'Tough challenge' ahead for new Prime Minister says Teesside politics expert
Andy Burnham will officially start work today
A Teesside politics expert says the new Prime Minister's going to have a tough challenge.
Andy Burnham says Labour's on its 'last chance to change', as he promised a country that works for 'all people and all places' following his election as party leader last Friday.
The new Prime Minister will officially start work today.
Ellie Lucas, lecturer in history and politics at Middlesbrough College, said: "Some people are kind of linking it to, I don’t know, call it TikTok politics — that kind of instant gratification. “I want this person to fix my problems now, and if they can’t, get rid of them and get the next one in.” So yeah, I mean, I wouldn’t be surprised if Andy Burnham is in place until the next election in 2029. Or will we just have another one because he can’t fix it in the next two years?
"In terms of Donald Trump, his opinions on things go very quickly. Initially, he quite liked Keir Starmer, and apparently officials were quite baffled by this, but I don’t know if Keir Starmer seemed like a proper Englishman to him, so we’ll see what he thinks of Andy Burnham, because it’s not the same kind of persona. That’s going to be interesting.
"If we go back to looking at 2019, Boris Johnson takes over from Theresa May, and this always happens: people very much now think of British politics in terms of presidents. They feel leaders need to win an election to be legitimate, even though that’s not technically how our politics works but it is how people feel.
"So then Boris Johnson holds the election in December and actually does a lot better than expected. I think it could be a smart move to do, because, as I said, it gives you that legitimacy. But it would definitely take a few months of putting his own brand on things and selling himself to the public before he might make that decision. So I couldn’t necessarily see one this year.
"One thing that both Andy Burnham and Keir Starmer have got in common is football. Keir Starmer is a really big football fan and compared to recent Prime Ministers, he’s probably the biggest football fan we’ve had in years. And yet, do you reckon people can picture him down on the terraces cheering for his team? But with Andy Burnham, you can.
"Is Andy Burnham going to last until 2029? I’m probably going to bet on no. But there’s a quote from Harold Wilson, who was Prime Minister, saying: “A week is a long time in politics.” So I don’t know what three years is - a really long time. So we’ll see.
"A lot of people who are really interested in politics do tend to forget that the vast majority of the country just isn’t. You can get so wrapped up in knowing everything that’s going on and forget that the average voter just goes about their life and feels like politics doesn’t touch them very much.
"So trying to get through to those people is the biggest challenge I think for a Prime Minister. It’s very easy to go and speak to journalists who are really informed on these issues. But I think one of the qualities of a really good Prime Minister is being able to speak to normal people. So again, we’ll see if Andy Burnham is probably better than Keir Starmer at that."