00:00Well, you've worked with him, haven't you, as a government minister?
00:02I worked for him, yeah.
00:03Worked for him, so who is the authentic Andy Burnham then, TM?
00:07TM.
00:09So, my experience with Andy, so I worked for Andy when he was Secretary of State for Culture, Media and
00:13Sport back in the day under the Blair and Brown government.
00:16So, is that pre-London Olympics bid?
00:21I think he was Secretary of State under Gordon Brown, basically.
00:23Got it, okay.
00:24So, it was after he'd run the bid and he'd been massively involved in football.
00:29He'd been a special advisor in Tony Blair's number 10.
00:32He'd worked for Chris Smith, I think.
00:33He's a very DCMS, and it's partly why I've got a little smile on my face, because Andy Burnham, I
00:39think more so than any modern politician, really understands that some of the strengths in this country come from all
00:45of the things in the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.
00:47It's our creative industries.
00:50It's our amazing TV.
00:51It's our sport.
00:52It's our football.
00:53It's all of these things.
00:54It's very cool, Britannia.
00:55It's very cool.
00:55So, Tony Blair.
00:56And I see that Oasis have said he can use their songs.
01:00The 90s are properly back, maybe.
01:02There's no bad that can come of this.
01:05But he's nice, actually.
01:07He genuinely is nice.
01:09Is he competent, Helen?
01:11He, yes.
01:13Yes.
01:13Okay.
01:14That sounded impartic.
01:15Well, he wasn't the world's most decisive Secretary of State, it's fair to say.
01:21So, he did find making a decision and sticking to something tricky.
01:27But it's a long time ago.
01:29There's no kind of, I can't think of anybody who's got a story about Andy Burnham.
01:34And the Civil Service has a lot of stories, right?
01:36And we all talk to each other all the time.
01:38So, even the people that you might not think in the public, you know, people who kind of
01:41have some sort of halo, can be awful to work for.
01:44People liked working for Andy Burnham.
01:46He's quite fun.
01:47He was very committed to his wife and his kids.
01:49And he's a very proper family guy.
01:52Like, comedically northern, I would say, as a northerner.
01:55Well, I think, famously, when asked what his favourite biscuit is, he said chips and gravy.
02:00Come on.
02:00What is there not to love about that?
02:02All right.
02:02Well, you worked with him when he was in government.
02:04That was quite a long time ago.
02:05You were both babies then.
02:07But your last job was as Deputy Cabinet Secretary.
02:10So, let's say the stakes are raised quite a bit once you come into number 10 in the Cabinet
02:14Office.
02:15Do you think he has what it takes to be a good Prime Minister?
02:18Yes.
02:19I think, I know an actual straight answer.
02:21So, I think what he's done in Manchester is amazing, actually.
02:25And it's not just him.
02:26And I really like, there's a good long, and we've all been busy watching things that Andy
02:30Burnham has said recently, I guess.
02:32There's a really good long interview he did with Newsnight.
02:34And to his credit, he credits other people.
02:38So, there was an amazing guy called Howard Bernstein, who is the civil servant version of kind of the
02:42guy who sorted out Manchester.
02:44And Andy's very generous to him.
02:46He's generous to the other Labour leaders who have been before him.
02:49Manchester has achieved 3% growth when the rest of the country really hasn't.
02:54And if you go to Manchester, I remember being there for the Conservative Conference last
02:57year, and you step off the train, and I find this painful as a Yorkshire woman.
03:01But you think, actually, this is really great.
03:04It's really great.
03:05And it looks nice.
03:06And it's interesting.
03:07And it's buzzy.
03:08And if Andy can bring to the rest of the country what he and his team and everything else has
03:14done for Manchester, then yeah, absolutely.
Comments