After being denied the chance to stand for Labour at Gorton and Denton and then seeing the Greens win a decisive victory, Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham has now responded to the result of the by-election.
Burnham’s speech
In a speech on 4 March, to the Centre for Cities Andy Burnham broke his silence and responded to the recent Gorton and Denton by-election in Manchester. He began by arguing that the time has come for a serious conversation about the current political system, especially after the recent by-election at Gorton and Denton.
Burnham went on to explain how the by-election revealed just how wide the gap is between the people and the politicians at Westminster. There has been a disconnection for a long time, but now something even more dangerous is beginning to happen. This was revealed in a poll regarding the Cost of Living Crisis, released by More In Common on the same day.
Burnham then explained how the poll revealed that many, many people across the country are beginning to lose faith in the political system as having any answers to their problems and while, in the past, there was hope that the next big change in government would somehow help people to find their feet, that simply wasn’t the case anymore. Very worryingly, Burnham noted that the poll said that 59% of people across the country believe that the Cost-of-Living Crisis will never end. Burnham then argued: “I would say that that is code red for Westminster politics. This is getting extremely dangerous.”
People, however, do differentiate between what is happening at the Greater Manchester level from what is happening at the national level. Decisions such as Manchester putting its buses back under public control are making a difference in people’s lives. People can also see the skyline of Manchester changing and the economy changing in fundamental ways as Manchester now has a £100bn economy.
Burnham also argued that “over the past decade, Greater Manchester has become more functional, in a period when the country has become more dysfunctional”.
Manchester-ism is the polar opposite of Westminster-ism. It has roots way back in the 19th century in the Anti-Corn Law League and the work of people like Richard Cobden; a time when Manchester drove social progress with the proceeds of growth.
Burnham summed up by arguing that economic progress can only be meaningful if it develops alongside social progress.
Clive Lewis echoes concerns
The concerns expressed by Burnham in his speech (unless real change is forthcoming quickly, expanding the ethos of Manchester-ism across the country and seeing economic progress walking hand in hand with social progress), that the foundations of our very democracy might be at risk were echoed by the labour MP Clive Lewis a few days later.
Writing in the Guardian, again in response to what happened at Gorton and Denton, Lewis stated that what the Gorton and Denton by-election revealed was a “legitimacy problem: the legitimacy of a political status quo that appears to monopolise what is considered possible – the pace, scope and direction of change. And increasingly, even its right to govern within a democratic system”.
Lewis then went on to argue, similarly to Burnham, that there must be meaningful change in people’s lives – and quickly – if our democracy is under threat. This economic change would see a break with the Thatcherite market-driven settlement which has held a stranglehold over British life for over four decades now.
Not only must there be economic change, Lewis argued, but also democratic change, with the introduction of a system of proportional representation, that empowers people and gives them a sense of belonging to the system.
A measured response looking to the future
Andy Burnham’s response, echoed to some extent by Clive Lewis, is by some margin the most serious attempt by a senior Labour politician to explain what happened in the Manchester constituency on 26 February. Where Starmer responded with a complete lack of self-awareness, grace or magnanimity towards the victory of Hannah Spencer and Home Secretary Mahmood responded by doubling down on her right-wing immigration policies, from Burnham we see a measured response, which is more visionary than vitriolic.
Burnham (and Lewis) are expressing what Labour can learn from its catastrophic defeat in Gorton and Denton and there are two clear messages.
Firstly, there must be serious economic change that challenges the long-held and discredited Thatcherite economic settlement but rather ties economic progress closely to social progress, with economic gains shared out fairly.
Secondly, if change doesn’t happen, accompanied by changes to the polling system, then the work of Westminster will continue to seem increasingly irrelevant to people and the very foundations of our democracy will be put at risk.
These are dangerous times and it seems a pity that only some figures in the Labour Party are prepared to see the reality and address it in meaningful ways.
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