At noon on Monday, King Charles III will hand the seals of office to a man nobody knows and nobody voted for as our new Prime Minister.
So-called “Messiah” Andy Burnham may not be able to walk on water but he has, miraculously, risen without trace as the most powerful man in the land.
Andy Burnham has gone from failed Labour leadership contender to the man poised to take over No10 without winning a single vote to do so Credit: Getty
‘Messiah’ Burnham takes a selfie with adoring Labour MPs on his return to Parliament last month Credit: PA
The King of the North simply marched into Parliament’s Westminster Hall, anointed as leader by 379 adoring Labour apostles — 95 per cent of the party.
He has taken no questions, offered no answers, unveiled no manifesto, made no Cabinet appointments.
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We only know Number Ten will be shipped “Oop North”, perhaps to Coronation Street, under a costly new dream called “Manchesterism”.
The new PM’s first date on Monday will be with Cabinet Secretary Dame Antonia Romeo who will spell out the ugly facts of life in Labour Britain.
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A flat-lining, high-tax economy saddled with a groaning £3TRILLION debt.
A generation of young people doomed to spend their lives on Benefits Street.
The weakest military force in Nato, possible war with Russia and an inevitable clash with prickly American President Donald Trump.
Burnham hasn’t even named his first ministers and the apostles are already at war over who is to be his new Chancellor.
The markets, who pay our bills, want Shabana Mahmood who until 48 hours ago seemed to be nailed on.
Or anybody but shifty Net Zero fanatic Ed Miliband.
The PM-to-be with Gordon Brown in 2009 Credit: Alamy
Burnham with wife Marie-France van Heel, his closest political confidante who has been by his side throughout his rise from Westminster outsider to Labour heavyweight Credit: AFP
This is a major test for Burnham. And it’s all tied in with his plan for a Big Bang leadership announcement on North Sea energy next week.
So what do we know about the man who will lead this country for the next few years?
Burnham is a happily married father of three. His wife, Dutch-born Marie-France van Heel, was the “coolest girl in college” and a contestant on Cilla Black’s Blind Date.
Known as Frankie, she is his closest political confidante and a feisty power behind the throne.
Burnham’s experience of the “real” world is a short stint on a trade newspaper before climbing Westminster’s greasy pole.
Those who knew him as an aide to Labour Home Secretary David Blunkett saw no sign of a future Labour leader, still less Prime Minister.
Indeed his two bids for the job ended in embarrassing defeat, first by Ed Miliband and then hapless grandpa Jeremy Corbyn.
His real strength is making and keeping firm friendships, as revealed by his choice of ex-Culture Secretary and BBC executive James Purnell as chief of staff.
He also picked political “wonk” Graeme Cooke as his Downing Street policy adviser. The three men have been pals for decades.
Cooke and Purnell worked together after Labour’s 2010 election defeat on a plan for the next Labour government. It was called “We Mean Power”.
The paper published by the Demos think-tank offers clues to what’s in store after the Starmer years.
The authors preach the glory of a powerful state while praising the markets for holding that state to account. It reeks of the Blairite “Third Way” . . . freedom, but at a price.
We are all free, for instance, to have dinner at The Ritz. But that freedom is pie in the sky unless we can all afford to be at the table.
Freedom comes with strings attached, especially free speech and a free Press.
Their solution is strict regulation — not by independent referees but by state-appointed bureaucrats.
Burnham has flirted with Hacked Off campaigners Hugh Grant and Steve Coogan who want state censorship of newspapers like The Jattvibe.
Andy Burnham with Ed Miliband, the ‘real Messiah’ of Labour’s left who has been behind his drive for power for the past 12 months Credit: Simon Jones
Burnham with his new chief of staff – and old pal – James Purnell in Downing Street in 2008 Credit: Steve Back
He plans to tinker with democracy itself, replacing first-past-the-post voting with proportional representation, blocking any chance of a future Reform or Tory government.
Burnham was a Blairite under Tony Blair. Today he’s embraced full-fat socialism, despite concerns over its support for Hamas-run Gaza.
Number Ten North may be a gimmick, but he means it. Next week’s North Sea oil plans will be his hat-tip to Manchesterism.
The energy issue cannot be ducked. It was forced on Labour by the stunning Tory by-election victory in Aberdeen South — and by union leaders who have seen jobs evaporate. This once oil-rich city is impoverished by Red Ed’s insane ban on new gas and oil production.
“Why is oil from Russia acceptable but oil from Aberdeen is not?” asked Tory leader Kemi Badenoch.
High energy prices are behind Britain’s cost of living crisis.
Miliband, seen by the left as the real Messiah, has martyred himself to the cause of Net Zero. But not at any price.
First, he knows he would be unacceptable to the markets as Chancellor in charge of tax and spending.
Second, the current heatwave has revealed just how dangerous his mad dash to abolish carbon fuels is proving to power supplies.
The National Grid teetered on the brink of collapse last month as wind and solar energy failed to cope with the surge in demand for electricity. The choice of Chancellor is the first challenge to Andy Burnham’s authority.
It will define his capacity to make unpopular decisions in the face of the ferocious opposition.
Red Ed is both clever and deadly, as his knifed brother David learned to his cost. He has been behind Burnham’s drive for power for 12 months.
The Treasury was to have been his reward. Plus, perhaps, a peerage and the role as Foreign Secretary for David Miliband.
That was before someone in Cabinet pointed out there would be “more Milibands than women” in top jobs.
The split between Blairitie moderates and Labour’s hard left majority has erupted in full public view before Burnham has even stepped into No10.
The lefties are enraged that instead of their talisman Red Ed, the job may go to Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood.
Cabinet ministers, by contrast, have warned Miliband as Chancellor would cut the ground under the fragile economy.
The Pound has actually strengthened as Mahmood emerged as the favourite. But she too is a risk, despite claiming Tory legend Margaret Thatcher as her “hero”.
Her only known view is a disastrous plan to reimpose the 50 per cent top tax rate.
The big question for Mahmood, if she wins, is how to raise the tens of billions to fund a big-spending Burnham regime without killing the golden goose.
A wealth tax or higher tax rate would provoke a stampede by big earners.
Would this wannabe Iron Lady cut the Welfare Bill — or slash national debt?
Burnham is so far a blank sheet of paper. But in one of his few policy announcements, he sparked alarm by attacking Israel and supporting Gaza — a blatant bid for the Muslim vote.
How will that go down with a sharp-tongued Donald Trump?
Burnham has made it clear he has no plans to cut the bloated UK welfare bill.
Yet these are just some of the choices that define a leader.
And what about the clamour for an early election?
Burnham could sail on with a big majority or take advantage of a weakened Nigel Farage and still-struggling Tories with a snap poll.
That would put scores of Labour MPs and half the Cabinet on the dole.
So the good ship Andy B will likely sail on and hope to win in 2029.
That really would be a miracle.
