SKY News'Party should get in touch if they need me': Burnham on future Labour leadership bid after mayoralty re-election

[Thomas]

old panelbase poll from 2015 showing how andy burnham wasnt thought of as good enough to revive the labour partys fortunes  if he became party leader back then ...

So hardly anyone believes any of the current contenders can save Labour in the short term. But the conviction that Tony Blair leads the way to a recovery is a faith-based position that crumbles under the light of scrutiny. There's no going back to 1997.

The fact that the Tory media is hysterically demonising Jeremy Corbyn, of course, doesn't necessarily mean that they're scared of him. We learned that lesson from the Jim Murphy months. But even the most basic study of history suggests that Labour tend to have the best chance of being elected if they stand for something different to the Tories, not a slavish imitation of them with a dab of red paint around the edges.

Neil Kinnock's losing vote in 1992 would have defeated the Tories this year (11.6m to 11.3m). It's triangulation, not socialism, that's left the party in the mess it's in today.

In choosing Kinnock – who was never going to be elected PM – to replace Michael Foot and giving him more than one election to do the job, 1983 Labour recognised that it needed serious rebuilding and that it wouldn't happen overnight. But if it chooses Burnham, Cooper or Kendall this time it'll be voting instead for "more of the same".

If the party grabs madly at Tony Blair – a man who lost four million Labour votes from 1997 to 2005, even before the global financial crash – as a totem of better times, a man whose creed will deliver Labour to Downing Street again if only it can rid itself of all those pesky founding values, all it will achieve will be its own final destruction.

Lets hope the labour party appoint another tony blair clone and finish the job starmer has done so well.

[Thomas]

It's DeJa'Vu, you sure you are not talking about the Lib Dems?

Just pat dreaming sheep about some fantasy where andy burnham leads the labour party to victory .

He doesnt realise it wasnt the labour party who "gave " scotland its own parliament , but how the council of europe forced the uk to give its constituent nations their own parliament , and the hot potato first landed in john majors lap , who was voted out of power before he could do anything about it  while in alistair campbells memoirs , blair called scotlands demands for its own parliament "a damn nuisance".

On top of that , the fantasy that andy burnham is a charismatic potential leader of the labour party is laughable rubbish when you consieder the party members rejected him in 2015 as the man who sold off the english nhs , and would do so again , never mind how he is toxic to most people in scotland as yet another new labour muppet.

The final point about burnham using the common wealth games to promote himself to "national " prominence ? Which nation is that then  , as england and scotland compete seperately ?

I fecking pray labour promote burnham to leader.

Another londoner talking bollocks about politics and  personalities north of the watford gap it seems to me.......

[Sheepy]

It's DeJa'Vu, you sure you are not talking about the Lib Dems?

[patman post]

Boris had the Olympics to surf into national politics on. Burnham has the 2022 Commonwealth Games to boost himself to national prominence. Watch out to see what personal training and better presentation skills Andy acquires over the next two years...

[Streetwalker]

I guess Boris can be blamed for bringing to the UK the US fashion for using the position of elected mayor as a stepping stone to higher national politics. Now there's Burnham, Khan, Houchen and, maybe, Liverpool's Joanne Anderson, who was elected despite Joe Anderson (no relation), the former mayor being arrested over corruption claims...

No I think your barking up the wrong tree here Posty .  Johnson is the only previous Mayor to go on to be PM but got the gig despite being Mayor not because of it .
It wasnt a stepping stone for Johnson IMO but  a task set by the Conservative party who needed a high profile politician  to oust Livingstone from City hall. Something they  forgot about in trying to rid Londoners of Khan 

As for Burnham the Labour  party need all the help they can get so he had best stay near the phone 

[patman post]

Blair won three elections. During his time, Scottish Labour managed to get 56 seats, and Scotland got it own Parliament.   


So it seems a party leader's charisma and personality do matter, and Andy Burnham is building awareness of himself around the UK as he gets publicity for speaking up on country-wide topics that affect his constituency. 


Given time, and if he doesn't fizzle out, Burnham could become a party leader to be reckoned with — despite being hampered by Labour Party rules and the Tories' semi-built in advantage...

[Thomas]

Well, it wasn't as that bothered Corbyn or seems to trouble Starmer. And our Andy does seem to be electable, which is not something that can be said about Worzel or Sir Keir. So we might get a bit of excitement back into our politics.

electable?

He won the election to become mayor in a well known  northern english die hard labour city on 67 % of the vote on a 35 % turnout and that makes him electable?

Borkie , put down those rags mate and stop reading them please. SRB steve or his pet donkey could have gotten elected in manchester for labour.

I fink the tory party are winding up the brothers and sisters again telling them burnham is electable.

If they are as stupid as to believe it , then i pray they fire him in for the job.

Burnham is nothing more than another blairite chocolate teapot.

[Borchester]

The question is.....is Andy Burnham competent enough to lead  labour?

Well, it wasn't as that bothered Corbyn or seems to trouble Starmer. And our Andy does seem to be electable, which is not something that can be said about Worzel or Sir Keir. So we might get a bit of excitement back into our politics.

[Thomas]

^^^

Is it a "UK " thing though? It seems primarily an English thing , copied from the yanks. There are four mayors in wales and northern ireland combined ( with the two in northern ireland being ceremonial only) none in scotland , the rest english , and in many areas , the idea of a  mayor was rejected.

I see no reason though why someone in lower politics cannot progress to a higher level if they are competent enough no matter what their postion is called.

The question is.....is Andy Burnham competent enough to lead  labour?

Im not sure , nor am i sure yet another blairite in starmers mold is the antidote to labours problems.

Surely for those who are supporting the old two party british nationalist system of labour tory tennis , the idea is to form a competent credible party in oppostion with new fresh ideas rather than regurgitating for the millionth time old stale politics of yesterday?

Just seems strange to me a non entity like burnham is given so much airtime and seen as a solution , but then the bar really has fallen very low at westminster.

[patman post]

I guess Boris can be blamed for bringing to the UK the US fashion for using the position of elected mayor as a stepping stone to higher national politics. Now there's Burnham, Khan, Houchen and, maybe, Liverpool's Joanne Anderson, who was elected despite Joe Anderson (no relation), the former mayor being arrested over corruption claims...

[GBNews]

'Party should get in touch if they need me': Burnham on future Labour leadership bid after mayoralty re-election

Andy Burnham has not dismissed suggestions he could mount a bid for the Labour leadership in the future, telling Sky News the party should "get in touch" if it were "ever to feel it needed me".

Source: 'Party should get in touch if they need me': Burnham on future Labour leadership bid after mayoralty re-election