There’s obviously been something of an uptick in Labour’s fortunes, post-Burnham. A run of poll leads nudging the reds out front, while the bookies are quoting a rather ungenerous 28/17 on King Andy’s prospects of winning the next election.
It’s done enough to calm fluttering hearts in Labourland after the seemingly inexorable drift under Keir Starmer, whose own popularity ratings nestled at the bottom of the Mariana Trench. A reprieve, then, certainly. A recovery? Kinda. But is this the sort of backdrop that might convince Andy Burnham to call a snap general election?
This is the chatter. Strike now before the first flush of popularity subsides. Don’t dither like Gordon Brown did back in 2007 after Tony Blair quit/ was forced out. There’s no advantage in eking out your predecessor’s term. Seize the day and secure a fresh mandate – and five more vital years.
The prize is renewed approbation from the electorate for Burnham’s decent, blokey social democracy. A chance for Labour to govern in its truest form. Not compelled to forgo its instincts like New Labour, nor relying on capitalising on the Tories’ wretchedness, like Starmer did.
Then there are the array of secondary benefits. Stop Reform in its tracks. Smother the Greens before they become a thing. And break the Tories in two. There’s a good chance a returned Burnham – even with a reduced majority – will skewer Farage, Polanski and Badenoch in the bargain.
It will certainly plunge the other parties into an existential funk.Each are talent deserts and perilously short of alternative leaders. Amid the confusion, Burnham prevails, taking Britain into the 2030s. Cheap buses and a mayor in every postcode!
The alternative – waiting and seeing – is not much of an alternative. Labour will start taking in water following October’s Budget. There’s no cash and lots of hard choices. And that’s before factoring-in what might happen with the US-Iran crapfest in the Straits of Hormuz.
A veteran of Gordon Brown’s cabinet, Andy Burnham had a ringside seat the last time a new Labour PM prevaricated at the moment he could have shaped his destiny. Are we going to see a repeat?
Tags: Andy Burnham, election, gordon brown, reform
