Westminster Insider

With England through to the knockout stages of the World Cup and hopes rising that football might finally be coming home, Westminster is watching nervously — and closely.

The beautiful game shapes the national mood like little else. For politicians, that creates both huge opportunity and huge risk.

This week, Patrick Baker speaks to football and politics journalist Joey D’Urso about the deep historical links between football and political power, and why World Cup success has long shaped Britain’s political imagination.

Political commentator and former Labour adviser Scarlett McGwire explains why authenticity matters more in football than almost anywhere else in politics — and recalls the bizarre moment Gordon Brown’s advisers staged photos of him cheering on England to make him appear “less Scottish.”

In a late-night pub viewing of Scotland vs. Brazil, Scottish Labour MP Brian Leishman offers a perspective from north of the border on the hardship of following the Tartan Army, England’s World Cup hopes and home nations rivalry.

Labour MP Kim Leadbeater reflects on football’s power to bring people together across political divides, and why politicians should resist turning the game into another front in Britain’s culture wars.

And playwright James Graham, creator of the hit play and TV series Dear England, argues that football may be one of the last great communal experiences in British life — one of the few places where strangers still come together to feel something collectively.
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The Greater Manchester mayoralty made Andy Burnham famous. Now he's hoping he can take the approach he developed in the city to the whole country.

This week on Westminster Insider, host Sascha O'Sullivan speaks to four serving mayors — and one former one about whether the role will prepare Burnham for the highest office in the land.

Labour Mayor of the East Midlands Claire Ward, who was a minister in Gordon Brown's government, told Sascha that mayors have much more power than junior minister.

Oliver Coppard, the Labour Mayor of South Yorkshire, explains how the job requires you to manage different competing interests, albeit on a smaller scale than as a prime minister.

But former Mayor of the West Midlands Andy Street warns that when it comes to financial responsibility and party management — two pitfalls of Keir Starmer's leadership — the job of mayor is "totally different".

Helen Godwin, West of England Mayor, and Kim McGuinness, Mayor of the North East, have graciously said they won't kick Burnham out of the Labour mayors' WhatsApp group if he becomes PM.
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Makerfield has proved to be the making of Andy Burnham’s bid for the top job, but could it also be the moment that Nigel Farage’s ambitions for Number 10 took a knock? 

While Reform UK continues to lead the national polls, it failed to capture the Greater Manchester seat last week and was beaten into third place by the Conservatives, the party it’s seeking to replace, in two Scottish by-elections. Is the wind going off Reform’s sails just as Labour hopes to revive its fortunes under a new prime minister, who is being dubbed the "Reform slayer" after his by-election victory? 

In this bonus interview edition of Westminster Insider, Anne McElvoy talks to Robert Jenrick, Reform’s Treasury Spokesman, about how Reform will respond to a Burnham-led government. The former Conservative minister and leadership candidate left his party earlier this year, claiming that he wanted to “unite the Right”. Following a dispute with Reform's Zia Yusuf over the party's policy on the deportation of migrants, Jenrick is trying to carve out a distinctive position on economic policy, including a new "big bang" for the City of London.
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Andy Burnham is the new Labour MP for Makerfield, heading for parliament and, likely, Number 10.

But what does his momentous win here on the outskirts of Wigan tell us about his chances of masterminding a wider Labour revival as prime minister?

Host Patrick Baker has been in the constituency over the past few weeks, speaking to people who live and work in this curiously normal part of the country about the prospect of a Burnham premiership.

On the campaign trail, Labour MP Peter Dowd reveals what kind of reaction he has been getting on the doorstep and shares his enthusiasm for Burnham's economic agenda.

Reform voters at the Bryn Community Centre in Ashton explain why they feel Labour has abandoned them, but hint they might look again at voting Labour if Burnham can deliver for their area as prime minister.

Patrick speaks to locals supporting Rupert Lowe's hardline anti-immigration party Restore Britain, as well as those concerned that two insurgent parties on the right could provide a boost to Labour's electoral chances.

And Rob Ford, professor of politics at the University of Manchester, explains why being a popular mayor may not so easily translate into being a successful PM.
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In a bonus episode of Westminster Insider, host Sascha O’Sullivan sits down with Jack Blanchard to find out who is the real Andy Burnham.

Jack talks through the journey Burnham has made from loyal minister in the new Labour years to the man he is today — and the most pivotal moments that have shaped him as the politician who is now hoping to win the Makerfield by-election and, eventually, the keys to No10 Downing Street.
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