The MP for Makerfield has come under fire.
Andy Burnham was slammed on TalkTV (Image: Getty)
Andy Burnham’s capabilities have been called into question as TalkTV host Mark Dolan launched into a scathing rant. There is every chance the MP for Makerfield could become the next prime minister as he is currently the only candidate to have emerged in the Labour leadership race following Keir Starmer‘s resignation on Monday (June 22). However, Dolan is far from convinced that the former mayor of Greater Manchester is the right person for the job.
He said: “Am I missing something here? Because Andy Burnham has presented himself as the change candidate. He’s got his Makerfield test and that is a test that is a metric by which he wishes to be judged as prime minister. The bottom line is that he becomes prime minister with no mandate whatsoever and with us as a population being guinea pigs in this political experiment because we’ve got no idea what he’s going to do.
Mark Dolan questioned whether Burnham is the right person to lead the country (Image: TalkTV)
“The reason why is because he hasn’t told us. All we got during the Makerfield by-election campaign was poetry rather than policy.
He claimed the politician had promised “hope and change”, but argued that hope would not solve issues such as immigration, economic challenges and the cost-of-living crisis.
The presenter demanded: “Enough already with a politician that is going to enter number 10 on the back of vibes only. We need the facts. What’s he going to do? And does he have a mandate to do it?
“Well, I don’t think that he does. This is a guy that was Greater Manchester Mayor. That doesn’t qualify you to be prime minister.”
He claimed Burnham’s previous role had been largely “ceremonial”, involving duties such as opening new hospital wings and appearing in local newspapers.
The TalkTV star added: “Being so-called king of the north, which I find a patronising expression, does not qualify you to be the king of Westminster. I believe that Burnham will be horribly found out when he gets into power.”
Dolan said he spent half a day with Reform UK leader Nigel Farage last week, who reportedly told him: “Give it two days. Give it 48 hours and Burnham will be in trouble.”
Dolan went on: “That will be the end of the Burnham bounce and it will be like a block of concrete falling on the ground rather than a bouncy ball.”
