𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀𝓼

Andy Burnham’s campaign launch for his unofficial bid to be Prime Minister shows exactly why he is the wrong man for the job. There is no doubt the mayor is likeable and does a good impression of seeming almost like a normal human being in comparison to the man he wants to replace.

But he is a political show pony, a slippery salesman who tells the customer what they want to hear. Keir Starmer is sorely missing any ability to connect with people, so Burnham shines brightly in comparison. But that cannot be all there is and, make no mistake, Burnham is just Starmer in short shorts. His folksy charm will not save the country. As Kemi Badenoch put it, he’s “showbiz” rather than substance.

Burnham put out a video explaining why he is standing for election to parliament, somewhere he has spent years saying he hated, in a by-election that has only been triggered because his pal wants to hand it down like a baronial seat. But it’s not an “unnecessary by-election”, Burnham insisted, because it is one of the “most consequential” of his lifetime, implying only he can save the country from a Prime Minister that leads his own party. Pretty staggering arrogance.

What was more interesting, however, was that his pitch to voters was that he could tackle the legacy of Thatcherism. Wandering around the streets, misty eyed, meeting adoring fans, popping into the pub for a pint like the ordinary bloke he honestly really is, Burnham talked about the impact of Conservative government on Ashton-in-Makerfield.

It was set to a soundtrack of music produced by some of the best bands in Manchester – but the songs were a quarter of a century old. The naff, nauseating nostalgia-fest was utterly baffling. It was the equivalent of Tony Blair fighting the 1997 general election banging on about Harold Macmillan with Lonnie Donegan playing in the background. It showed Burnham is no Blair, even though he learnt his craft at his former master’s knee. He’s picked up the spin, but not the vision.

Blair and Thatcher remain divisive figures but whether people agree with what they did or not, everyone knew what they stood for. Blair attacked his Tory opponents but did not wallow in the past. For Burnham to make a woman who has been dead for 13 years his enemy is insulting to the voters he wants to represent.

Where are the solutions for the problems of today and the blueprint for a brighter future? An affable manner is not enough. It is also a pretty silly line of attack, given Burnham served in the Labour governments of Blair and Gordon Brown that immediately followed the Tory era dominated by Thatcher.

He started out as a special adviser and ended up in the Cabinet. Does he really believe the voters of Makerfield won’t realise that? Burnham’s bumper car approach to policy means he goes full speed on an issue until he crashes into an obstacle then he is forced into a u-turn. It’s only been a week since his bid for No 10 began in earnest and he has already lived down to his reputation as “Flip flop Burnham”.

Financial markets took fright when he announced he was running for parliament fearing his intentions after he said the government had to “get beyond this thing of being in hock to the bond markets”. So Burnham’s team let it be known he would stick to the current rules on borrowing.

Just a few months ago the Greater Manchester Mayor declared Britain should go back into the European Union, stating: “I want to rejoin”. Now he is fighting a Leave voting seat, Burnham insists he respects the referendum result. He was a Blairite, then a Brownite and is now an old school socialist.

He promised the voters of Manchester he would serve a full term as their mayor, but when a bigger prize was on offer, the commitment was soon forgotten. Britain is stagnating. A million young people do not work. Artificial intelligence is eating into the job market at an astonishing rate, with banks the latest to make redundancies in favour of the rapidly developing technology.

Small boats crossings are a visible symbol of the failure to grip borders and the welfare system is ever expanding. Makerfield is potentially choosing the next prime minister. Its voters and the rest of the country deserve better than a man fighting battles with a ghost.