Andy Burnham: Sunak All Over Again?

It seems in July, we are going to get one bespectacled prime minister for another. As Sir Keir Starmer sees out the final days of his premiership, it seems Andy Burnham has taken the leadership of the Labour Party game, set, and match. According to Jeremy Corbyn, interviewed on Novara, a left-wing news outlet on YouTube, Labour MPs were falling over themselves to race to get a selfie with Labour's new saviour, Andy Burnham. The selfie, including prominent ministers in Starmer's cabinet, was splashed across a certain famous newspaper. Taken at that ancient building, which has seen different regimes come and go, the Guild Hall.

Casting your mind back as a reminder, after a Labour MP stepped aside, Andy Burnham won the seat of Makerfield and became its MP. Now Burnham is expected to take up the role of Labour leader and Prime Minister. That's if Ed Miliband, Angela Rayner, Wes Streeting, and Al Carns do not challenge him. No doubt, behind closed doors, Burnham and his minions are doing deals with these potential challengers. Offering them top jobs at his cabinet table when Burnham, as he most probably will, steps through the door of 10 Downing Street.

What's strange is that one minute, Sir Keir Starmer said he was going to stand his ground against Burnham or any other challengers. Now he is standing down, having made an emotional resignation speech last Monday. How he went from wishing to fight to standing down is anybody's guess!

Two things come to mind. It is reported that cabinet ministers told him the writing was on the wall and his time as PM was over. Talking about "writing on the wall", perhaps having consulted and taken soundings from fellow Labour MPs, Sir Keir Starmer saw that it was not worth standing to challenge Burnham as his support would not be enough to overcome the Burnham juggernaut. So, sensibly, Sir Keir chose to stand down. He will see out his last days as Prime Minister until Andy presumably takes over.

However, Burnham is facing criticism from voters just as Rishi Sunak did. When Sunak replaced Boris as prime minister, there was anger within the country that Sunak had been placed in the job without the public getting a say. So it is for many for Burnham as he replaces or will replace Starmer. Another shoo-in leader like Sunak parachuted into the top jobs as leader of the Party and PM. Like Sunak before him, Burnham is the Saviour and will bring a raft of policies that will change the fortunes of the Labour Party. In Sunak's case, it was the Conservative Party.

If no one challenges, Burnham Andy will be the seventh prime minister in 10 years that Britain has had. For me, the whole process seems too convenient. One minute, Andy Burnham was the Mayor of Greater Manchester, now he's an MP and potential next Prime Minister. Perhaps the whole process is legit, and the statement that "if something's too good to be true, it probably is" doesn't apply here. However, that will stop conspiracy theorists.

Richard Tice from Reform UK said that Burnham, once he is bedded in as prime minister, he should call a general election within 6 months. Then, if he gets a ringing endorsement from voters, he has a mandate from the people to carry on.

The problem is that the longer a leader (Voted in or chosen internally) goes on without calling a general election, the more illegitimate he/she will look. Gordon Brown faced this, but he pushed the can down the road until he had to call a general election, which he lost. Rishi Sunak was the same, and we all know how that ended for him. Now, if Burnham becomes prime minister, will he be following in their footsteps?