07 March 2023 , 19:00
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Labour veteran Andy Burnham warned the party against “complacency” as polls suggest Keir Starmer is heading for Downing Street.
Mr Burnham was elected an MP in 2010 but was an adviser for years before that - and drew parallels between now and the 1997 landslide which propelled Tony Blair into No10.
“It does feel like we are heading towards a change election, so that’s exciting for anybody on the left of politics,” he said, describing regular Labour poll leads as “great to see”.
But he warned: “You always have to guard against complacency of any kind.
“I see that and I hear that in terms of what Keir and Shadow ministers are saying.
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“An election is never in the bag.
“I was in the campaign headquarters during the ‘97 campaign - it was quite funny because everyone was still working all night, the smallest little hiccup was ‘Oh no, we’re going to lose’.
“I think that’s in the Labour psyche. It’s a bit like supporting Everton - you don’t take anything for granted, ever, until it’s the final whistle.
“Labour needs that mentality - we definitely had it in ‘97, I remember it well.”
Keir Starmer's Labour has a huge lead over the Tories in the national polls (PA)The two-time Labour leadership hopeful Andy Burnham left the door open to a Westminster comeback - but insisted he was “genuinely excited” about more powers being handed to the North.
“The thing I feel - and I feel it really quite strongly now more than at any point in my time as Mayor - is that we’re actually beginning to establish English devolution,” said the ex-Cabinet Minister, 53, who quit as an MP in April 2017 and was elected Greater Manchester Metro Mayor days later.
“Proud northern city regions like ours doing more for themselves, deciding more for ourselves - that’s becoming established now and I find that more exciting than returning to Westminster.
“I get genuinely excited about the idea of the North of England having a louder political voice speaking with one voice, getting heard in a way it has never been heard before.
“That is what motivates me and excites me.
“Following from that, it doesn’t point to heading back - it never has done, to be honest.”
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But he added: “I’m not ruling it out, but it’s not now.”
Labour leader Keir Starmer with Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham (PA)Speaking to The Mirror the Greater Manchester Mayor also admitted he had some sympathy for MI5 over the Manchester Arena suicide bomb - but backed victims’ families in taking legal action against the Security Service.
The Thames House spy agency was criticised in the final instalment of a public inquiry into the May 2017 atrocity in which 22 innocent people were killed.
Asked if he felt sympathy for the service, Greater Manchester Metro Mayor Mr Burnham stressed families still grieve “in the most painful way possible” but added: “Yes, on a human level I do have sympathy.
“I don’t think anyone in MI5 wasn’t trying to do their best and the job that they do is incredibly difficult.”