Andy Burnham shows his emotional side
Politics Weekly UK
The episode explores the atmosphere at the Labour Party Conference in Liverpool, focusing on Andy Burnham's first conference as Prime Minist
Key takeaways
- Andy Burnham expressed deep emotion regarding the passing of his father, which coincided with his transition into Downing Street.
- The Prime Minister has effectively dismissed speculation regarding a snap general election, pointing instead toward 2029.
Main topics
- Labour Party Conference
- Andy Burnham's leadership
Notable quotes
I don't think people want endless politics. They want doing, not saying.
Conclusion
The episode highlights a period of transition for the Labour party, ba
Transcript preview
Speaker 4 (0:00) This is The Guardian. Speaker 1 (0:09) I don't think people want endless politics. They want doing, not saying. And that's very much my focus in Liverpool. Speaker 2 (0:19) It's Andy Burnham's first conference as Labour leader. What a difference from this time last year, when he was accused of slinking away early after appearing to launch an abortive coup attempt. The Speaker 3 (0:29) theme of this week in Liverpool is hope. How much can the new Prime Minister carry his party and the country on optimism alone? Speaker 2 (0:37) I'm Pippa Carrero. Speaker 3 (0:38) And I'm Kieran Stacey. This is Speaker 2 (0:39) Politics Weekly. For The Speaker 3 (0:41) Guardian. Speaker 3 (0:45) Pippa, we are sat in an echoey corridor, not our normal beautiful soundproofed broom cupboard in Westminster, but an echoey corridor next to the River Mersey at Labour Party Conference. There will be people coming and going around us, so people are just going to have to forgive us. But, you know, that's the joy of being at conference, right? Everything is done slightly on the hoof. Are you having a good one so far? Speaker 2 (1:07) Yeah, I mean, I've been here about 24 hours and it's funny, party conference season, because you can sort of, look towards it with actually a feeling of a bit of dread because you know you're not going to get any sleep you're going to be working non-stop and I was actually like tired before I even arrived because I was in New York last week and then was up in London number 10 north Speaker 3 (1:29) interviewing Speaker 2 (1:30) the Prime Minister on Friday found someone who was more tired than me there I think and then came via visiting the in-laws in Burnley to Liverpool arrived last night and then the minute you're here That sort of feeling of slightly being jaded at the prospect of coming completely disappears. Maybe it's just because I'm a complete political geek and I love this sort of get together where you get everyone in the same room. Speaker 3 (1:54) You're Speaker 2 (1:55) sort of rubbing shoulders with party activists. People are out in the community speaking to voters on the doorstep every day, but also with cabinet ministers who sort of really have their finger on the pulse of exactly what's going on at the heart of politics, at the heart of government. Speaker 2 (2:12) exciting regardless of what's going on in the bigger picture. And given this is Andy Burnham's first conference, and it's such a difference from where we were last year, new prime minister, facing a new set of challenges, very difficult global economic headwinds. It's kind of like a fascinating mix of possibility and also... where possibility runs headfirst into reality. Speaker 3 (2:36) Yeah, it is. It's got this nervous energy to this conference, I think. Everybody's kind of slightly buzzing, very excited, but also not quite sure what they've done in the last few months and not quite sure where they're headed. There's suddenly, you know, I was watching the main stage today and you're seeing people go up and give speeches that haven't been in, you know, frontline jobs for a little while and are suddenly... back at the heart of government. And, you know, there's just a feeling of, oh my goodness, it's almost like what the mood of the first conference after the 2024 general election should have been. Should have been, exactly, but wasn't. And Speaker 2 (3:13) because of this sort of this weird pessimism that, you know, Keir Starmer didn't want to appear too upbeat and it ended up being really gloomy and that they ended up in a downward spiral. But I've been, you know, I've spoken to several coffees with cabinet ministers and every single one of them has arrived with a smile on their face and every single one of them when I've said look you know don't get too ahead of yourself it's not looking that great economically you've got some really big test moments ahead the budget spending review we've spoken about this before each of them has said yeah but we've got a second hearing and I think they recognise that it isn't currently more than that but actually that alone is a big deal and They're all people that I've spoken to regularly over the last year who have been getting, or who were getting under Keir Starmer more and more despondent about the party's prospects and thinking, well, frankly, there's no way we're going to win a general election, win a second term. And even though, obviously, we're some way off from that, we can talk about that in a minute, already there's sort of this renewed hope that... actually they can think again longer term. They can think about it in terms of a 10-year project and making the longer term substantial change because they hope that that hearing, with a lot of hard work, they might be able to translate into longer term time in office. And Speaker 3 (4:40) what about the PM himself? You went up to see him this weekend. He just got back. I mean, he's had an unbelievable first few months in office because, of course, this was all taking... place against the backdrop of his father dying and he's done a couple of interviews recently where he's kind of acknowledged that actually he knew that his father was entering the final phase of his life just as he came into Downing Street so that's been running in the background for him for a while then he had that New York trip it must have been a lot of kind of tension I think around meeting Donald Trump then he comes back then he does a round of regional interviews then you go and see him I mean you mentioned he was tired did he yeah did he not seem his usual bouncy self he Speaker 2 (5:20) no and actually when he walked into the room he sort of sat down and we had a very brief chat before the interview started and he said look I'm going to try and make it sound like I haven't just done 26 regional interviews yeah I said well Thanks very much. I suggest they try and do them on a different day in the future. But there we were in number 10 North. And I'm not going to lie, he looked absolutely inaccurate. So this is somebody that generally has quite a lot of energy. But he also was really emotional. And I think what he said to me and he said to a few other people since is that. He has come to this recognition, this realisation over the last couple of months that the beginning of this really quite remarkable journey for him and being able to try and make all these changes that he had talked about with his dad came at the same time as his father's life was ending. Speaker 1 (6:14) And Speaker 2 (6:15) he said, look, I'm not looking for any sympathy, but it's been a real moment of transition. And on a very human level, he got quite emotional. And on a very human level, of course you feel empathy towards him. Speaker 1 (6:27) I'm in this job. for what I can do for people, not for what it can do for me. I've never wanted the job just to want the job. I've always wanted the job for what I can do with it, to make the changes that my dad, for instance, long pushed me to make. And now I'm kind of, you know, it's been a hard thing, if I'm honest, you know, coming into this position in the last two months, when I also knew in my