Andy Burnham became UK Prime Minister without a contest, a challenge or a televised debate, and, as the Spectator noted with some alarm, without taking press questions at either of the set-piece moments of his rise: his by-election victory and his “No 10 North” policy speech. For most incoming prime ministers that would read as ordinary media management. For this one, the national press is entitled to wonder whether it is a preview.
Burnham is the most committed supporter of press regulation ever to enter Downing Street. In 2016, as shadow Home Secretary, he called Leveson Part Two “non-negotiable” and wrote to ministers demanding it proceed, telling Radio 4: “The Government’s only done half the job.” This year, before the leadership crisis broke, he said of the abandoned inquiry: “I haven’t given up on that”, adding that he would revive it if he “had the influence”.
He now has the influence.
