Before he has even begun, Burnham has incisively communicated his plan for the country. As MPs are scrambling for positions in cabinet, his comms team are assembling.
After the genius but brutal political manoeuvring which ousted Starmer and paved the way for the former Manchester Mayor, Andy Burnham must now succeed where Keir Starmer lacked to prove the endeavour was truly worthwhile. There is no place better to begin than with communication.
Communication was the Achilles heel of Starmerism – if there was such a thing. In fact, Keir Starmer’s disdain for even the idea of ‘Starmerism’ perhaps was the biggest contributor to his downfall – as no one really knew what the Labour leader stood for. Now, everyone from the backbenches to the cabinet key players are chanting ‘devolution’ morning, noon and night. Before he has even begun, Andy has set the agenda of what his premiership is about.
While there has been a media storm of speculation on who will be in Burnham’s cabinet, the real powerhouse of his premiership has been assembling – the Manchesterism comms team, who will define the narrative of his premiership.
Former Downing Street director of communications, Andy Coulson, said Burnham should now turn his focus to building “a loyal, professional, comms operation”.
In a LinkedIn post last week, he added the comms team must be: “run by grown-ups who are skilled in bringing the temperature down and who understand the value of communicating a sense of reasonableness”.
The first major appointment was making James Purnell his chief of staff. This has raised controversy due to Purnell’s recent ties to the lobby industry having just stepped down as CEO of Flint Global. Purnell was his old flatmate and fellow minister under Tony Blair and Gordon Brown.
Mark Glover, chair at SEC Newgate UK, explained that the next Downing Street director of comms will need to be able to work well with Purnell and Burnham’s long-standing aide Kevin Lee.
In terms of agency support, he commented: “I would not be surprised if No. 10 reaches out to key people in agencies who are known to Andy and his team, for specific advice”. However, he added: “I would be surprised if he brought any agency formally into No. 10, as that is not the Labour way.”
Burnham is going to want to bring in a close circle of trusted allies to help him build his brand within the party and with the public. He is likely to take on individuals who helped him run his immensely successful campaign in Makerfield – in which he won 55 per cent of the vote.
One of those individuals includes Grace Pritchard. She was seconded from her role as special advisor to Ed Miliband to run comms for the Makerfield campaign. Burnham singled out Pritchard for praise during his speech after the Makerfield by-election, saying: “You’ve been absolutely brilliant.”
Another contender for a comms job is Abby Tomlinson. She ‘masterminded’ Burnham’s digital operation in Makerfield. She made a name for herself during the 2015 general election for coining the ‘Milifandom’ hashtag.
Furthermore, Donjeta Miftari is a likely frontrunner to be in Burnham’s comms team. She was on his team during the Makerfield campaign and was a former member of PRWeek’s 30 under 30.
Kevin Craig, founder and chief executive of political lobbying and media relations specialist PLMR, said: “Any new PM entering Downing Street will want to bring with them the trusted advisers who helped get them there – and Andy Burnham will be no different. So expect him to hire key people from his successful Manchester team who know how he thinks and what he wants.”
During his victory speech, Burnham paid tribute to the ‘band of strong northern power women’ who were behind his historic win.
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