How left-wing is Andy Burnham? | Harriet Williamson

‘King of the North’ Andy Burnham could be the next Prime Minister. After Labour’s local election disaster in May, the Greater Manchester mayor is on course to win the Makerfield by-election, called specifically to pave the way for him to return to Parliament and challenge Parliament. Keir Starmer, terminally hated for the highest position.

The last Makerfield Opinium survey predicted a narrow win for Burnham on 46%, followed by Reform UK on 41%, Restore Britain on 7% and the Conservatives, Greens and Liberal Democrats on 3%, 2% and 1% respectively. A new Convergence surveyhowever gives Burnham a much larger lead of 12 points over Reform’s Robert Kenyon, with Labor polling at 49% and Reform at 37%.

With Makerfield under its belt, The Labor Party’s most popular politician will be well positioned to enter the leadership race for a third party in his career – and, if the polls are correctemerge victorious for the first time. But is Burnham the answer to Labour’s woes and a potential ally of the left, or is he just another centrist chameleon who will move to Reform-lite as soon as he hands over the keys to Downing Street?

Burnham – who held ministerial posts under Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, as well as in the shadow cabinets of Ed Miliband and Jeremy Corbyn – has at least some soft-left credentials.

As Brown’s culture secretary in 2009, he was heckled at an anniversary event of the Hillsborough disaster, which led him to convince the government to open a second investigation into the fatal crush. He received a standing ovation in the House of Commons in 2016 after condemning South Yorkshire Police “rotten to the core” following the verdict of the inquiry which concluded that the 96 victims of the disaster had been unlawfully killed, as well as for exposing the cover-up “advanced in the committee rooms of this House and in the press rooms of 10 Downing Street”.

The same year, as Corbyn’s shadow home secretary, Burnham called for the government’s preventative strategy to be abandoned “toxic”, calling the requirement to report signs of radicalization. “The current equivalent of internment in Northern Ireland”.

By positioning himself as a champion of the North against Westminster cronyism, Burnham has generated a lot of goodwill among voters above the M25. First elected mayor of Greater Manchester in 2017, he has since been re-elected twice, each time with more than 60% of the vote. His successes in this role include popular and common-sense policies such as the £2 cap on bus fares, which it could be deployed throughout the country if elected Labor leader, and create the integrated, state-controlled Bee Network for buses, trams and cycle paths.

During the pandemic, Burnham castigated Boris Johnson’s government for inadequate support for northern communities, ultimately securing more funding for the region and earning himself the nickname “King in the North” from Game of Thrones. (Meanwhile, Burnham’s highest-profile pledge in the mayoral election – ending rough sleeping by 2020 – came true a much more difficult request.)

As for his allies, Burnham enjoys a close relationship with Energy Secretary Ed Miliband – perhaps the most left-wing member of Starmer’s front bench – who is said to advise Burnham on fiscal policy (and presents himself as future chancellor). However, Burnham is out of step with Miliband on net zero, touting a new “open mind” on continued drilling for North Sea oil and gas.

Since announcing his leadership bid, Burnham has attacked “40 years of economic impact”promising to end the privatization of essential services, austerity and deregulation.

At the heart of Burnham’s agenda – if he becomes Prime Minister – is to put water and energy back into the hands of the public, his allies informed this weekend. “When Andy says he wants the public to have control over ‘the essentials of life’, we should believe him. He’s completely serious,” a Burnham source said. But his commitment to Labor’s fiscal rules could lead to the same reversals and inertia on austerity found in Starmer’s deeply hated tenure.

The period leading up to the Makerfield by-election was characterized by clearly right-wing political positions from the Burnham camp, particularly the understanding that he will come back Interior Minister Shabana Mahmood’s draconian immigration reforms, which include an end to permanent refugee status. The announcement sparked strong criticism from Diane Abbott, independent MP for Hackney North and Stoke Newington, who posted on: “Meet the new boss, the same as the old boss.”

Perhaps in response to being nicknamed “Open Borders Andy” by Reform UK, Burnham also canceled his previous calls remove the “no recourse to public funds” restriction which requires people moving to the UK to obtain benefits or public housing before obtaining permanent resident status – a key driver of homelessness. Last week, Burnham said Britain must make “greater use” of immigration detention centerssomething that rights groups have warned for a long time comes with a high human and financial cost.

Josh Simons – the former Makerfield MP who stood down for Burnham’s candidacy – is also a potential source of concern among left-wing voters. Simons, who was director of right-wing think tank Labor Together when he paid an American company to spy on and defame journalistswould work on Burnham’s policies and is expected to be part of his future cabinet.

Burnham’s senior advisors also put pressure on Mahmood – who set out his vision of the British criminal justice system is an AI-powered panopticon – to consider the role of chancellor, it was reported this weekend.

During the Makerfield campaign, Burnham said he believed politics “needed less division and less factionalism”, and that some leftists like Faiza Shaheen and Jamie Driscoll should never have been kicked out of the Labor Party. He has draw the line to extend the same courtesy to Corbyn, however.

Burnham, alongside London Mayor Sadiq Khan and Scottish Labor leader Anas Sarwar, broke ranks with Westminster leaders to call for a ceasefire in Gaza at the end of October 2023. But earlier this month he refused to call The ongoing Israeli military assault on Gaza constitutes genocide – although it is declared a by the world-leading International Association of Genocide Specialists.

Burnham told the Guardian: “I am concerned about the disproportionate nature of what happened in terms of destruction, and there must be a full investigation and accountability process.” It seems unlikely, however, that this comprehensive process of investigation and accountability will take into account the British government’s complicity in the Israeli genocide. Corbyn wrote to Burnham last month, asking whether, as Prime Minister, his government would launch a full and independent public inquiry into Britain’s role in Israeli operations in Gaza, end all military cooperation with Israel and impose sanctions on the latter. Burnham has not, to date, responded.

Despite visiting the occupied West Bank with Labor Friends of Palestine in 2012, Burnham has been a member of Labor Friends of Israel since 2015 and declared during his leadership campaign that same year that his first state visit would be to Israel. He also called the peaceful global Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign “malicious.”

Burnham’s foreign policy record also bears the scar of his decision to vote for the Iraq war – and twice against an inquiry – which came under scrutiny in 2015, when he said “there was no easy answer” to the question of whether the UK should illegally invade a sovereign country.

Starmer’s failure to deliver change after 14 years of Tory austerity, coupled with authoritarian repressions on freedom of expression and assembly and complicity in the genocide in Gaza, has made the Labor brand toxic for many progressive voters. If Burnham doesn’t turn out to be significantly different, those voters are unlikely to return.