In under a fortnight Burnham has shown something crucial, 'normalism'

In under a fortnight Burnham has shown something crucial, 'normalism' World events, a flatlining economy and a political system beyond repair may well beat Andy Burnham, but at least he's not like the charisma-free last lot, says Brian Reade THERE’S no shortage of takes on why Andy Burnham has made Labour more popular than Reform for the first time in 16 months. It’s his honeymoon, he hasn’t had to make any unpopular choices, and voters have yet to see what lies behind the good guy smile, they say. All of which have some truth in them. Events will stifle him, the harsh realities of a debt-ridden economy will dilute his pledges, and walking the walk on welfare, social care and defence will be much tougher than talking it. But in under a fortnight Burnham has already shown something crucial, which hits at the core of why voters are warming to him: he looks and sounds like many of them. His speech about the need to reform the care system came straight from his heart, without soundbites. He could have been someone you’d met in a pub bemoaning their impotence to act over their dad’s dementia, who genuinely wanted you to know about it and also what you think. He spoke to us like adults about this most difficult of problems. He told us that the neglect of our care sector is a national disgrace he’s been wrestling with since his time as Health Secretary 17 years ago, and he intends to do whatever it takes to fix it. I knew Burnham back then and he hasn’t changed. The meaningless word “Manchesterism” is being used to define what he stands for but one that better sums up his appeal is “Normalism”. Admittedly, it’s not hard to look normal after the succession of robots, weirdos and phoney careerists that have resided in Downing Street since the last time he was in Cabinet. David Cameron was a semi-aristocratic, multi-faced chancer and Theresa May came across as a 1950s schoolmistress who’d done nothing more daring than run through wheat. Boris Johnson perfected a buffoonish clown act to disguise the fact he was a lying spiv, and Liz Truss was a dead-eyed, malfunctioning Chucky doll. Rishi Sunak dressed like Norman Wisdom and was so privileged he admitted he’d never met a working-class kid growing up, and Keir Starmer sounded like every utterance had gone through three different committees. That No10 is no longer a charisma-free zone spells trouble for two leaders who had previously played the “bloke at the end of the bar” card with success. Compared with Burnham, Nigel Farage is now seen as a sleazy establishment grifter who sneers at those who question him, and Zack Polanski is starting to look about as normal as any former breast-enhancing hypnotist can. The Labour leader is also undercutting their appeal to young voters by playing a blinder on social media which comes as naturally to him as banter with football fans whenever he sits at the Liverpool docks to watch Everton. Burnham’s critics like to portray him as part of the Westminster elite by pointing out that he went to Cambridge and has never had a job outside of politics, but they overlook the fact that he came from a very grounded working-class background which he has never lost touch with, so understands instinctively the problems ordinary people face. His popularity will undoubtedly slump. World events, a flatlining economy and a political system beyond repair may beat him. But being out-of-touch with normality won’t. Which will do for starters.