Andy Burnham has been stealing the show in Liverpool. Whether it’s electoral reform or rejoining the EU, Labour members have crammed into fringe venues to hear from Manchester’s man of the moment.
“There’s nothing more unstoppable than an idea whose time has come,” Mr Burnham quipped last night. And it appears that Labour members were rather taken by the Manchester Mayor’s offer.
It makes a huge change from 12 months ago when GB News was quizzing Mr Burnham on whether he would rule out a return to Westminster.
One Fleet Street journalist even labelled the People’s Channel’s question “stupid”, instead opting to ask the Manchester Mayor about buses. I bet they’re not now, are they?
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Andy Burnham has been mobbed at his fringe events in Liverpool
|PA
Despite Mr Burnham’s personal popularity, there is one thing standing in the way of the Greater Manchester Mayor: his job.
After hinting at a potential challenge to Sir Keir Starmer for days, Mr Burnham has since admitted: “There is no ability for me to launch a campaign.”
However, Mr Burnham is still making the Prime Minister slightly twitchy.
“I'm not going to say every conversation I have with every MP,” he added. “I have many conversations with MPs.”
As last night came to a close, MPs, journalists, lobbyists and Labour members were stumbling out of bars after perhaps having a little too much to drink.
With conversations flowing about as quickly as the booze, GB News heard that Labour MPs who have been promoted into ministerial positions have been getting some lessons on communications.
“It’s a 'how to talk like a robot guide',” one MP said. Another warned: “It’s not actually about answering questions properly. There’s no straight-talking.”
Labour MPs might have forgotten that the man whose message they are hoping to sell is himself accused of being a political robot.
The Prime Minister left audience members howling last year when his response to whether he was indeed a political robot was to freeze.
However, with a growing number of fresh-faced MPs from the 2024 intake being promoted into ministerial posts, it will come as no surprise that Morgan McSweeney is trying to get everyone singing from the same hymn sheet.
The Prime Minister has himself previously been accused of being robotic
| PAOne Labour MP appeared to break ranks with No10's pro-Union message by finding himself at Sinn Fein's drinks reception last ngith.
Staunch socialist Ian Byrne, who only had the whip restored earlier this year, shared snaps of Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald delivering her speech to attendees.
"A quite brilliant speech from Mary Lou McDonald tonight in Liverpool at the packed Sinn Féin Fringe," Mr Byrne said.
Labour has long held Sinn Fein events at its party conferences, with then-Shadow Northern Ireland Secretary Louise Haigh's billed appearance in 2021 sparking particular fury.
However, Labour still considers itself a Unionist party, even if the Prime Minister is sometimes slightly wobbly on the matter.
"I think the Prime Minister said before that, of course, he is the Prime Minister for the whole of the UK, including in Northern Ireland," the Prime Minister's official spokesman said in April.
Sir Keir had spent some time as a human rights adviser to the Northern Ireland Policing Board, leading him to strike a strong professional relationship with Ian Paisley Jr.
But Sir Keir's leftie legal career also saw him join the pro-Irish reunification Haldane Group.
Ian Byrne took a snap of the Sinn Fein fringe event
|X/IAN BYRNE
The key message from the 2025 Labour Party Conference is that Sir Keir isn't a fan of Nigel Farage.
While Mr Burnham might be nipping at Sir Keir's heels inside the Labour Party, No10 insiders know all too well that the biggest threat to the Prime Minister is the Reform UK leader.
Mr Farage, who has now become the "unofficial leader of the opposition", is the subject of dozens of fringe events across Liverpool.
The appetite to learn how Labour plans to take on Reform also forced Blue Labour to move room to accommodate for a crowd almost double the size of what was first thought.
During the event, attendees also saw some red-on-red sparring when Labour MP Jonathan Hinder shut down calls for Sir Keir to start batting against Brexit.
"The idea that the Labour Party should spend its time doing what it did for half a decade, telling its base 'you're wrong, you're stupid'," the former police inspector told one Remainer in the audience.
And all of that came after Blue Labour peer Lord Glasman voiced his support for "abolishing the Treasury".
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