New Labour spin is back - dressed up as northern vibes, writes James Hanson

His formative political years were spent serving under Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, in governments that perfected the dark arts of spin. I suspect what we’ve witnessed with his arrival in Downing Street today was a piece of political PR of which even Alistair Campbell would have been proud. New Labour spin is back, but it’s dressed in Uniqlo and re-branded as ‘vibes’.

Credit where it’s due, Burnham is a far more impressive political communicator than his predecessor. Sir Keir Starmer’s default setting was to look tense and sound strangulated. By contrast, Burnham’s confident performance outside Number 10 projected a calm optimism that will come as a relief to many voters.

But are vibes alone really enough? After all, David Cameron could also deliver impressive note-free speeches, but it didn’t do the country much good when he oversaw a hugely divisive referendum from which the UK’s political stability has never recovered.

So much of what we’ve heard from Andy Burnham in recent weeks has been little more than populist platitudes. He keeps telling us he has a plan, but seems reluctant to detail it.

Empty cliches like a ‘place first’ approach to government will only get you so far. For all his trumpeting of his record in Greater Manchester, there’s a big difference between running a municipal bus network and governing a G7 economy and nuclear power.

In the absence of a comprehensive agenda, we get optics instead. He danced to New Order while accepting the Labour leadership, he’s posted social media videos in which he complains about single-file queuing in pubs (a valid gripe, in fairness), and his team have briefed the press that he’ll continue wearing his signature black t-shirt as often as possible once Prime Minister. I’m just relieved he managed to find a suit and tie for his meeting with King Charles!

I can understand why many, especially on the left, will be excited by an Andy Burnham premiership. The British people prefer politicians who look as if they relish the job instead of being burdened by it. The lightness of touch with which Burnham conducts himself has an appeal, but it’ll quickly wear thin if it’s simply a mask for a lightweight approach to politics underneath.

If there’s one thing the British people hate, it’s inauthenticity. One of the most effective political conjuring tricks of the last few decades has been Andy Burnham’s transformation from special advisor-turned-cabinet minister into plain old Andy, people’s champion and King of the North. If voters start to suspect they’ve been conned and that the man who’s been thrust upon them is merely another failed career politician, his honeymoon will end quickly. The time for vibes is over. The time for delivery is now.

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