“Andy Burnham did actually come to talk about electoral reform,” the compere quipped, after the fact. The Manchester mayor, aka the King of the North, aka the man who may have timed a leadership bid of sorts just ahead of the Labour party’s annual conference, had accepted an invitation to speak, briefly, about a cause he has apparently long felt exercised about: proportional representation.
A sizeable list of MPs and assorted Labourites was slated to address the #Labour4PR rally on Sunday afternoon, but it was Burnham whose stated passion for electoral reform proved the biggest draw. Even before he had gone on stage, photographers had begun to circle. When they grew tired of waiting, they snuck out through one side and returned from the other, their numbers greatly multiplied, trailing the man of the hour himself.
All he did was sit quietly at the front. All he did was give off his affable, charming, just-trying-to-help vibes. One wondered how many angles of “man sits in seat” a photographer really needs. Emma Harrison, the CEO of Make Votes Matter, took it very much in her stride that, right in the middle of her impassioned speech, the herd of photographers were far more interested in the man sitting in the front row. “Don’t worry lads,” she said, “I don’t need a photo.”
But soon it was his turn, and Burnham skipped onto the stage. He was semi-casual in a dark bomber jacket, dark shirt, dark trousers, smooth dark hair and dark-rimmed glasses which, if you blinked, recalled the £2,000 pair which caused Keir Starmer so much trouble this time last year in Liverpool. But standing before us was no product of the party machine, no Blairite in a navy suit (and no tie), no careerist politician enjoying a few nice freebies because they deserve it. No, about to address the crowd of PR enthusiasts was a really authentic politician, actually. “This is an idea whose time has come,” the mayor said, supposedly about electoral reform.
Every speaker who addressed the rally had two minutes, but Burnham spoke for 15. There was, after all, a lot to say. Two minutes is hardly enough time to explain the connection between PR and economic growth, or why the government should invest the entire £40bn Rachel Reeves allocated for affordable homes in social and council housing, or how his support of the Hillsborough Law (which introduced a legal duty on public officials to support authorities in official investigations) is proof that Burnham is “here to support the government”. Neither is it enough time to explain one’s thoughts on how to “reassure the bond markets” (yes, he went there again).
It’s certainly not enough to explain how a “climate of fear” is stifling the party and closing down free debate within it, therefore hampering Labour’s chances now and on 7th May 2026, a day of elections in English councils, Scotland’s parliament and the Welsh Senedd. “I’ve done nothing more than launch a debate,” said Burnham, entirely convincingly.
“I can say to you all tonight,” added the mayor, one hand on his hip, photographers gathered at his feet, “I am speaking out for the thousands of councillors here at this conference who are worried about going to those doorsteps next May, speaking for the members of the Senedd who, again, are working hard to keep Wales Labour… and, of course, members of the Scottish parliament as well, who want a stronger story about Labour to go to those doorsteps.”
Burnham first ran for leader in 2015, and has periodically expressed an interest in leading the party. Some have pointed out that, if he does indeed have his eyes on Starmer’s job, some of the hurdles he faces are so great—chiefly, his not being an MP, and the positions of Manchester MPs still being very firmly filled—as to make the idea practically a moot point, certainly so far out from an election. And yet here he was, following his previous gesturing via the New Statesman and Telegraph, offering a leadership pitch of sorts shoehorned into an argument for changing the voting system. Yes, there was energy in the room, but it seemed doomed to dissipate. How much longer could he eke it out? Hopefully, until his next conference appearance at a minimum.
At least he had the decency not to seem smug when the audience rose to their feet and clapped profusely, even though he had far overrun his allotted slot. “You will be delighted to know I’m not launching anything,” is how Rachel Blake, the new Labour MP for the cities of London and Westminster, made her impression on the audience when it was her turn to speak. Ann Black, of Labour’s National Executive Committee, apparently far from amused, promised she would “stick to the exam question”.
But spare a thought for Mick Whelan, the outgoing general secretary of the Aslef trade union, whose own intervention came immediately after Burnham’s. Not only did a sizeable chunk of the room empty as soon as the mayor had vacated the stage, but the rally’s organisers actually insisted he stick to the time limit. “Please wrap up? You didn’t do that to Andy!”
