Andy Burnham has officially been sworn in as an MP and is now very busy doing the rounds in the Commons, greeting his legions of leftie admirers. As he entered the chamber this afternoon, Burnham was met with heckles including ‘Rome is saved’ and ‘he’s not the messiah’ – to which he responded: ‘Naughty boy’.
From there, it was straight on to Westminster Hall for a selfie with fellow MPs. While Rachel Reeves was conspicuously absent from Downing Street during Sir Keir Starmer’s resignation, the busy Chancellor did manage to find time to join the Makerfield Messiah for a family photo in Parliament.
Also jostling to demonstrate their new-found love for the ‘king of the north’ were Chief Whip Jonathan Reynolds, Net Zero Secretary Ed Miliband, Angela Rayner, Treasury Minister Dan Tomlinson, new Health Secretary James Murray and the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, Darren Jones.
Notably, when getting off the train from Manchester at Euston station, Burnham refused to rule out calling an early election. Asked about the prospect of sending the country to the polls, he replied:
I think you’re jumping several hurdles there. My priority today is to be sworn in as the mayor… as the MP for Makerfield. And it’s been very kind of sad for me today to leave Greater Manchester.
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