What A Difference Some Hope Makes

Things started to go wrong during his first few weeks in office: he was bedevilled by a ‘freebie’ scandal involving the donation of thousands of pounds-worth of free suits, glasses and accommodation, while far-right anti-immigration riots, sparked by the horrendous Southport murders, flared on the streets. His first notable policy announcement was that £300 winter fuel allowances would be axed for up to 10 million pensioners.  

Astonishingly, he entered No10 without a communications plan for his first weeks. He never recovered.  

Andy Burnham, by contrast, has not even completed his first week in his office and his personal popularity, according to pollsters More In Common, has spiked by eight per cent in seven days, reaching a level higher than Starmer ever recorded. 

The only controversy over prime ministerial clobber has been whether Burnham’s T-shirts were black or dark blue. Voters have responded, on the whole, positively to a series of well-timed announcements giving them £45 off energy bills, capping bus fares at £2 and cutting business rates on pubs and clubs by 20 per cent. 

Burnham has engaged with voters in a way Starmer never could. His No10 communications team has run a textbook operation demonstrating this and building all-important momentum. The first few weeks of a prime minister’s term are absolutely vital in framing how the public views them. 

Of course Burnham faces serious issues down the line, including in the Budget later this year when he and his Chancellor John Healey will have to spell out about exactly how these feelgood announcements will be funded and for how long they will continue. Prolonged US-Iranian hostilities threaten a harsh economic reality for the new PM’s cost-of-living priorities. 
But many would surely agree that he has got off to a good start – mainly by offering a little bit of hope in dark times – and by showing people that he gets it.