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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Politics
John Crace

Andy Burnham, the Schrödinger’s cat of the Labour party conference

Andy Burnham
The king of the north is making a leadership bid, and he’s not making a leadership bid. Take your pick. Photograph: Danny Lawson/PA

How do you solve a problem like Andy? Schrödinger’s very own guest feline at the Labour party conference in Liverpool. The man who is both there and not there.

Not invited on to the main stage, but the star attraction at countless fringe events. The man no cabinet minister dares mention by name, yet who is seemingly buried deep in everyone’s subconscious. Living rent-free in the heads of Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves. The man who is making a leadership bid and not making a leadership bid. Andy Burnham is the man who likes to have it every which way.

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