Few leaders have had as golden a summer as Andy Burnham. Heading off for a family break with his wife Marie-France van Heel and their trio of twenty-something offspring, Jimmy, Rosie and Anne-Marie, before settling fully into Number 10 and the official PM’s flat, he did not specify a destination, though it is thought to be a short-haul Europe trip for a brief recharge.
This week, it was back to Blighty, looking tanned as he hit the road on a national tour — in essence a chance to introduce himself to the many parts of the country outside his Manchester fiefdom where the Burnham brand is either unfamiliar or treated with the scepticism that accompanies a change of leader only two years after a general election that saw his predecessor shoot to power on the wings of a strong majority only to crash out in July.
