Andy Burnham has turned up the heat – on himself

For heartily relieved Labour MPs queueing up to nominate a new Labour leader, Andy Burnham is their Jude Bellingham. He shoots, and it’s “third time lucky”, as he remarked with his laconic edge of his previous failed attempts to lead the party. But can he score on a political pitch which bears the scars of indecision and bewilderment about what went so awry in the Starmer premiership? Among the genuine sense of buzz, optimism and sheer relief in many Labour quarters, a “quartet” of tensions will flare up quickly. They will require clearer direction than the fuzzy contours of Burnhamism today. The first is the next PM’s “Manchesterism” vision of leadership. For one thing, it needs to shake off its North West-first moniker. “Everyone’s thrilled that a southern-centric Downing Street will tak