00:00Andy Burnham has spilt years building a political identity outside Westminster,
00:05focused on transport, housing, devolution and economic fairness.
00:09Now the question is whether that record would carry wider appeal.
00:13For voters across the country, the issue is not just Labour's internal politics,
00:17but whether a different approach would change services, costs and decisions,
00:22and most importantly, the fortunes of the party.
00:26We've got to remember Andy Burnham has been around for a long time.
00:29He dates back to sort of the Blair government.
00:32And indeed, of course, he's seen a lot of leaders in his time,
00:36was a sort of a minister, tipped for sort of great things.
00:39So if he were to sort of become leader and by virtue sort of a prime minister,
00:43it would be the fulfilment of the sort of prophecy of many,
00:46a very bright young man who sort of went to Cambridge
00:51and of course came from sort of fairly humble beginnings.
00:54So of course he has what's regarded as authenticity.
00:58But of course what has happened, I mean, he's tried to become leader twice before
01:03while he was in Parliament, was beaten by David Miliband
01:07and also sort of beaten by Jeremy Corbyn.
01:09Of course we know how that ended.
01:11And then left Parliament in 2017 to become Mayor of Manchester.
01:17So he's been very skilful in the way, of course, he's represented the interests of Manchester
01:23and indeed has received many plaudits from people as a consequence of that
01:27and the sort of the general sort of community.
01:29Now, whether he can then, and of course that's the big if, become an MP.
01:34And of course that's the first big hurdle he's got to sort of face.
01:37He, when he was in Parliament, he was in a pretty safe constituency.
01:41Well, you know, when parliamentary constituencies were regarded as being safe
01:44for either Labour or the Conservatives or perhaps even the Liberal Democrats.
01:47It's a very different sort of set of circumstances now.
01:50Supporters argue his record of Mayor of Greater Manchester
01:54gives him a practical answer to some of Labour's problems.
01:57They point to bus reform, stronger regional decision-making, housing policy
02:02and his focus on places that often feel overlooked by Westminster.
02:07Those issues matter well beyond Greater Manchester.
02:10Many voters are judging politics through rent, bills, transport, jobs, waiting lists
02:16and whether public services work where they live.
02:19Burnham's pitch has often been that power should sit closer to communities
02:23and that Labour needs to sound less managed and more connected to people's everyday lives.
02:29The view is certainly that they need to change Keir Starmer
02:32sometime before the next general election.
02:34So all that happens, he becomes Prime Minister
02:37and the difficulty he has then is that, of course, it's the UK,
02:41no longer just Manchester, which big as it might be.
02:44It's a very sort of defined part of the country
02:46and, of course, you're coping with lots of sort of different events.
02:51Sir Keir Starmer remains Prime Minister and Labour leader
02:54and critics of more leadership speculation say the party should focus on delivering government.
03:01Burnham would also have to return to Parliament
03:03before any leadership question could become real.
03:06That's why the by-election matters.
03:09But it should not be overstated.
03:11Winning a seat would only be one step.
03:13Any challenge would still depend on support from Labour MPs,
03:17party rules, timing and whether colleagues believed a change would help.
03:21Will he sort of take the sort of the what appear to be sort of left principles
03:25that he has in Manchester and try and sort of run the country on that basis?
03:28Now, of course, that's causing a certain degree of sort of consternation
03:32amongst the money markets that this may sort of result in a run on the pound
03:36and various other things and sort of the bond markets will sort of take fright.
03:39So as a result of all this, Andy Burnham has been sort of a fleet of foot
03:44in ditching some of the things which are seen as more controversial.
03:48But, hey, he's got to be careful how he plays that one
03:51because, of course, assuming again he gets into Parliament
03:54and then runs for leadership,
03:55he's looking for support from sort of the leftward elements of the Labour Party
04:00because we can assume that the sort of the Starmite supporters,
04:04they will sort of continue to support him.
04:05So he's trying to sort of to walk this very difficult path
04:09between being, dare I call it, I use the word populist
04:12in terms of what he thinks will sort of win back the votes of those
04:16who sort of deserted to other parties
04:18and we saw that in the sort of the recent election
04:20and the local elections more particularly,
04:25who've gone to sort of either reform,
04:27so Labour parties have sort of gone rightwards or leftwards to the Green.
04:30Very, very difficult.
04:31But I come back to this big problem,
04:34you know, what does Andy Burnham really stand for
04:37and is he going to be consistent?
04:39But, of course, as we know, when you get into sort of to number 10,
04:42the sort of the pressures are such that you have to compromise
04:44because, of course, there are sort of wider financial interests at work
04:47which undermine what you may or may not want to do.
04:49For now, Andy Burnham represents a question for Labour
04:52rather than an answer.
04:54His record gives supporters something to point to,
04:56but national leadership is a different test from regional government.
05:00The wider issue for voters is whether Labour can show it understands
05:04the pressures people feel locally from transport and housing
05:07to bills and public services.
05:10That's why this debate may continue whatever happens next.
Comments