Monday 13 July 2026 10:20 am  |  Updated:  Monday 13 July 2026 11:52 am

Andy Burnham is utterly delusional

By: Eliot Wilson

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Andy Burnham has pledged to “value and respect” every member of the PLP and to favour consensus building over point scoring. We’ll see how long that attitude lasts once he faces his first backbench rebellion, says Eliot Wilson

Andy Burnham’s premiership is only a week away. By Friday last week, he had received the backing of enough Labour MPs that it was impossible for another candidate to be nominated, so he will be formally confirmed as Leader of the Labour Party some time this week. Sir Keir Starmer will then go to Buckingham Palace next Monday to resign as Prime Minister and First Lord of the Treasury, after which Burnham will have an audience with the King and be invited to form a government (His Majesty’s fourth PM in less than four years).

Despite Burnham’s leadership having been more anticipated and hyped than last summer’s Oasis reunion, it is unclear how much planning has been done for the transition to power. His speech on 29 June talked airily about devolution and promised the gimmicky “No 10 North”; last week he wrote an article in The Times about national security which had the gritty realism of It Ain’t Half Hot Mum.

I cannot help but recall every confident statement I heard or read in the first half of 2024 about the meticulous preparation for government Labour had undertaken under Sue Gray’s steely gaze and experienced hand: costed policies, shadow bill teams, a draft KIng’s Speech. It was all imaginary. Starmer’s team approached those vital first 100 days in 2024 as if it was the mystery........

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