Andy Burnham is now certain to be the UK’s next prime minister. What’s uncertain is almost everything else concerning his plans for government, with their detail still obscure to allies just 10 days out.
The former mayor of Manchester very quickly secured the backing of so many fellow Labour MPs that, while the contest for Keir Starmer’s successor is scheduled to last a week, by day two there was no room for another to join the race. Behind that unanimity is a widespread unease over the prospect of installing a new leader whose ideas remain untested.
