Burnham’s Finance Friends Are a Reassuring Bunch: Martin Ivens (1)

After a spectacular by-election victory in Makerfield that exceeded the pollsters’ most optimistic forecasts, Andy Burnham returns to London this week as the ruling Labour Party’s conquering hero. He has shown he can vanquish the threat from the right-wing populists of Reform UK, whereas other party candidates have failed to slow Nigel Farage’s momentum. The self-styled King of the North now moves to take Keir Starmer’s crown.

On Monday, Starmer bowed to the inevitable and said he would stand down as Britain’s prime minister. The argument for an elegant and quick transition of power is compelling. Burnham’s team would ...