LONDON — Agent of “chaos” or more of the same? Britain’s opposition parties are still trying to work out how to paint Andy Burnham.
With the Labour MP likely just weeks away from becoming Britain’s prime minister, Conservative Leader Kemi Badenoch used a punchy speech Monday to warn of a “summer of chaos” under his leadership.
“Investment decisions will be put on hold,” the Tory leader told a Westminster press conference. “Every time the newspapers are briefed about new tax rises, the markets will react. Every time it looks like Britain is going to be borrowing more money, our economy will be left in limbo.”
All Labour MPs care about, she charged, “is which jobs they will be getting in the new government.” Burnham himself lacks a plan and is already ducking scrutiny, she argued. “Giving speeches in Manchester and not taking any questions is simply not good enough.”
It’s just the latest swipe from Badenoch, who has spent the past week trying out lines of attack against Burnham — notably dismissing him as a “pair of eyelashes and a fancy t-shirt” in a fiery Prime Minister’s Questions in the House of Commons Wednesday.
But deeper questions remain about how both the Conservatives and Reform, the right-wing populists led by Nigel Farage, will try to take on Labour’s expected next boss over the long-term.
Both now parties face a dilemma: amp up Burnham’s agenda as a clear and present danger to Britain, or paint him as an insider unable to do much to move the needle to help a restive electorate.
“Truthfully, I don’t know how we tackle him yet,” one Conservative adviser, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss party matters, confessed.
Both parties have so far taken a crack at tying Burnham to his predecessor’s deep unpopularity. That’s despite him running in — and winning — the Makerfield by-election as a Labour candidate who could effectively remove the centrist Starmer and fundamentally change his party.
“Burnham won’t solve your problems, because Labour cannot solve your problems,” Farage has said. “His plan for government is to act as continuity Starmer, and hope the rest of us are too stupid to notice.”
There are early attempts to chip away at his right to govern. Reform has already called for an immediate general election — a prospect Badenoch’s Tories, polling considerably worse — are resisting. Reform insiders hope he’ll run into the same fundamental problems that hobbled Starmer in office. “He’ll have a fresh look, but he won’t be able to deliver anything and will become associated with the Labour brand after a few months,” a Reform official said.
Others in the Reform tribe appear keen to talk up the chaos angle and paint Burnham as an extremist. The party’s deputy leader Richard Tice has repeatedly described Burnham’s agenda as “hard socialism” and of the “hard-left.”
Reform’s Tory rivals, who are still struggling in the polls after their own prime-minister-switching run in office came crashing down in 2024, argue the change of leadership should spark panic for Farage’s crew, who have painted themselves as the anti-establishment outsiders.
“I think it doesn’t change too much for us,” a member of the Conservative shadow cabinet argued. “Reform though, blooming heck.”
“Reform’s [argument] until Makerfield was ‘vote Reform, get rid of Starmer’ — now it can’t be ‘vote Reform get rid of Burnham’ because he just thrashed them in a place they should have walked,” the same person said.
After their own general election wipeout in 2024, the Tories have retreated from seats which are now likely to be straight fights between Labour and Reform at the next vote.
But both parties are now wargaming for the possibility of Burnham — seeking his own mandate after ousting Starmer — going to the country earlier than planned.
“I’ve been arguing we need to be ready for an election in 2027,” a second Tory official said.
“You’d only be sure it wouldn’t happen if you thought Burnham wasn’t a risk-taker. But just look at what he’s done in the last month.”
Sascha O’Sullivan contributed reporting.