Andy Burnham pledged on Friday to “restore hope” to his fellow citizens in a speech delivered after his appointment as the new leader of the Labour Party.
“We are united, and we put the strength that comes from this unity at the service of the people and the territories that have been waiting too long for politics to restore their hope, and that is what we are going to do, all together. We are going to restore their hope.”
Burnham, 56, is a chameleon-like politician who has transitioned from the centrism of Tony Blair and Gordon Brown and Keir Starmer himself, through a shift to the left under Jeremy Corbyn, to a middle position.
Burnham has a profile close to traditional social democracy. He strongly advocates devolving powers to the regions, greater state intervention in public transport, housing, and firm support for public health.
He was the mayor of Manchester. He is called “the King of the North” because of the great influence he has in the post-industrial areas of northern England, where Farage is sweeping. He wants to economically boost the North so that it becomes a counterpoint to London and the south of the country. In fact, he has already announced that he will move part of Downing Street to Manchester.
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Burnham will try to win over a disappointed Labour electorate. “Let’s adopt a problem-solving approach instead of one focused on scoring points. Let’s have the courage to solve the big issues that politics has neglected,” Burnham said in his speech.
“If we want an economy and a country that work for all people and all territories, we need a new direction, different from the one we have followed for the last 40 years.”
The Labour member argues that the British model is overly centralized and that local authorities should control areas such as transport, housing, vocational training, and economic development.
Additionally, he will have to face the same challenges that weighed down Starmer, with a stagnant economy and high financing costs for the government.
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