There is some uncertainty and trepidation in these liminal days before the nomination period for the next Labour leader opens. But it’s not about the “who” of the next prime minister so much as the “what”. How different can Andy Burnham be, given that he is bound by the same manifesto, assailed by the same headwinds? It’s widely agreed that he has a vision where his predecessor did not, but each wing of Labour loyalists is projecting their own version of what it is.
Old-school Blairites are seeing one of their own, given Burnham’s hinterland and his announcement of James Purnell as his chief of staff. The Labour right is taking heart from the rumours of Shabana Mahmood as chancellor, and Josh Simons’ role in the policy team. The soft left is betting on Burnham’s transformation – via the Hillsborough scandal, the infected blood scandal, the geographical and economic inequalities of Covid – from New Labour careerist to a new kind of thinker. It feels churlish to point it out, but they can’t all be right.
