Labor under Burnham will be fast and bold, said the minister

Culture secretary Lisa Nandy said Labor under Andy Burnham’s government would be “faster and bolder”.

He spoke after 322 Labor MPs nominated Burnham as their next leader, leaving him with a mathematically unassailable short.

Burnham is still the only candidate announced and some MPs said they would support him but failed to vote on Thursday.

Nandy, whose Wigan constituency is adjacent to the seat of Burnham Makersfield, told BBC Radio 4 she did not believe a leadership contest was necessary and backed plans to form Manchester 10 North.

But opposition parties have demanded Burnham outline how he would cut the welfare bill, plug gaps in defense funding, tackle immigration, devolve power from cities and bring in rent controls.

Nandy told TODAY: “I think there will be a couple of things that will be different under Andy Burnham.

“The first is that he will be fast and bold, and willing to think differently about how we deliver change.

“Number 10 in the North has attracted a lot of attention but this is really about changing the center of gravity in the country so that all parts of the country can be seen and heard and contribute.

“The second thing that’s different is that we wear our hearts on our sleeves more.”

Nandi She was defeated by Sir Keir Starmer to become Labor leader in 2020.

She was thought to be keen to stand up again before turning her back on long-time friend and partner the former mayor of Greater Manchester.

She said she had not yet been told whether she would stay on as culture secretary under Burnham or be offered another job and had no one else in Sir Keir’s cabinet.

“He[Burnham]didn’t give anybody any work and I believe it was the right thing to do.”

In an interview today, she outlined her hard work in office over the past two years, including cutting NHS waiting times and opening up opportunities for young people.

She said this was achieved under very difficult circumstances by Sir Kerr – but admitted that government work was out of touch with the people.

This is the reason why Burnham is taking over now, she said, as Labor puts the country first and the leadership race is not necessary.

“I feel strongly in my constituency in Wigan, and we heard in the recent by-election in the neighboring constituency of Makersfield, that people have put up with a lot for a long time.

They want things to change, they voted for the change two years ago, they sent us a clear message that they want the change to be bolder, faster.

Conservative leader Kim Kardashian has attacked Sir Keir Starmer for leaving a £5 billion gap in defense spending for his successor.

And in an opinion column in the Daily Telegraph, Burnham said she would not call a snap election because her party would lose, saying the Conservatives were now preparing for government in 2029.

“The next Conservative government will inherit economic woes from Burnham or whoever replaces him,” she wrote.

“Weak borders, a welfare system out of control, public services that often fail the people and a dangerous world in which Britain must re-arm.

“We are recruiting serious people who understand their common sense, who can get things done and who can unite the country.”

Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey said Burnham’s No 10 North plan was too focused on big cities and called for coastal and rural towns to be taken into account.

The Lib Dem leader named Burnham “Avanti Andy” after the train franchise serving Manchester.

“London and Manchester are great cities and engines of innovation for our country, but if Avanti doesn’t quickly recognize that there is a Britain beyond the tracks connecting Euston and Manchester Piccadilly, it is heading for a signal failure,” he said during a visit to Devon Torbay.

He added: “Andy Burnham has a very short window to change this government, end the violence and build trust with communities across the length and breadth of the UK.”

And Green Party leader Zac Polanxy has urged Burnham to introduce new rent controls, with research showing that a rent freeze by 2022 could save the average tenant household £2,400 a year.

Polanski was speaking at the launch of research by the UCL Innovation and Public Purpose (IIPP) and the Foundation for New Economics.

If Andy Burnham is serious about ending broken Britain – fixing our broken system and putting money into ordinary people’s pockets – rent controls should be high on the agenda.