Will Andy Burnham be able to bring ‘Manchesterism’ to the rest of the country? - Ismail Mulla

There is a lot to like about Burnham. Unlike Starmer’s ‘manager trying too hard to fit in with the common man’ schtick, Burnham is more of a natural at rubbing shoulders with ordinary folk. The Everton faithful will attest to his status as a season ticket holder and regular appearances at Goodison and now Hill Dickinson Stadium.

He has also been very successful as Mayor of Greater Manchester. No one can deny that. In fact, those inside the Westminster bubble found it hard to comprehend the margin of his victory in the Makerfield by-election last week.

Manchesterism, devolved city-led growth that pairs public and private investment, has led to a regeneration boom in the North West.

But while Manchester is Burnham country, the big question for Labour is whether the rest of the nation can be charmed by the so-called King of the North. He is about to swap the serenity of the sizable pond that he ruled over for a shark infested ocean. There are enough sharks smelling blood to make even the most accomplished of politicians feel like a minnow.

In football parlance, Burnham is the manager of a plucky mid-table team that is now in charge of the national team.

It does make me laugh that Burnham and his team are looking for more time to put together a policy platform. Like they’ve not had enough time to work on it.

Burnham has a knack for saying the right things. He didn’t always deliver for Manchester but when the King of the North did fall short he could always point the blame at Westminster. The disillusioned Westminster insider taking it to the establishment to help the North West punch above its weight.

He was helped by the fact that the region was a devolution trailblazer and had a strong regional economy. There is belief that he inherited a successful local system and simply had to keep the ship on course, which is easier said than done given all the macroeconomic challenges that have presented themselves over the past decade and a half.

But as Dr James Silverwood, senior lecturer at Leeds Beckett University, says, “He won’t inherit that nationally because the British state has been weakened from decades of austerity and privatisation.”

It is already clear that Burnham is going to try to be all things to all people but that’s exactly the approach that got Starmer into a muddle.

Talk of challenging Treasury orthodoxy but at the same time assuring markets is the most obvious example.

If Burnham is going to be a success then he needs to set out exactly what he’s going to sacrifice in order to deliver his key pledges. Otherwise it will become window dressing at best.

The real danger lurks in the coronation of the King of the North as the next Prime Minister. Any competent Opposition would make hay of the fact that he would be sitting in Downing Street off the back of a majority that he did not deliver. In fact, he wasn’t even an MP at the last general election.

There’s no way that he’s going to call a snap election, no matter how much Nigel Farage goads him. Certainly not at this stage.

The best that Burnham can probably offer the electorate is a few marginal improvements now and then to ask them to vote on his manifesto (if his party has not defenestrated him by then).

The only problem is that he is faced with a restive electorate. They want change for the better and they want it now.

Given the issues that have mounted up over the past decade and a half, even Houdini would find it difficult to conjure up a satisfactory resolution.

This is highlighted by the fact that we’ll be onto our seventh Prime Minister in ten years. It’s the sort of leader turnover that we used to mock other countries for.

I really want it to work out for Burnham because for the first time the North has an earnest advocate in Number 10 and it could prove to be a boon for regions like ours. However, call me cynical, it’s hard to see the King of the North being given much time by the electorate.