‘Rome is saved,’ the Conservative MP Desmond Swayne heckled as Andy Burnham was sworn in as a member of parliament for Makerfield, on the day prime minister Keir Starmer resigned.
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He’s not prime minister yet, but becoming an MP allows the so-called king of the north to stand for leadership of the Labour party. Burnham could run unchallenged and take the premiership as soon as 16 July.
A career politician who has held key jobs at the top of the British government, this will be Burnham’s third attempt to become leader of his party after more than a year of political manoeuvring.
After his last loss to Jeremy Corbyn, he quit Westminster in 2016 to run for Greater Manchester mayor, saying in a blunt farewell speech that ‘voters have a problem with an out-of-touch elite who don’t seem to care’.
In the nine years since Burnham left London, his political and personal style and demeanour have transformed. Gone are the sharp suits and ties. Now he dresses in T-shirts and bomber jackets.
His willingness to challenge critics on social media, and channel the style of his New York mayoral counterpart, Zohran Mamdani, in direct-to-voter messaging has delighted his backers.
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