How long can Burnham’s kumbaya politics last?
Labour MPs today lined up to kiss the feet of their new king and Britain’s inevitable next prime minister, Andy Burnham. Nominations from the Parliamentary Labour party to take over from Sir Keir Starmer opened this morning, with Burnham confirming in a social media video that his expected coronation is ‘starting to feel very real’. When it comes to the crunch issues of slashing the welfare bill and cracking down on immigration, there is only so much group therapy that some MPs can take before they descend into another heated spat Backbenchers from across the PLP posted pictures of themselves pledging allegiance to the MP for Makerfield. For the first time in a while, a palpable sense of optimism and unity swept through Labour’s ideologically disparate ranks.