{"id":198051,"date":"2026-08-22T16:21:33","date_gmt":"2026-08-22T16:21:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/198051\/"},"modified":"2026-08-22T16:21:33","modified_gmt":"2026-08-22T16:21:33","slug":"burnham-gives-a-masterclass-in-relatable-ever-so-slightl","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/198051\/","title":{"rendered":"Burnham gives a masterclass in relatable, ever so slightl…"},"content":{"rendered":"

Tune in, high-ranking audiophiles: Andy Burnham<\/a> has been on his \u201clistening tour\u201d this week, visiting towns across Britain, his ears open. It\u2019s a telling idea for a prime minister who\u2019s spent his summer recess getting his voice heard in new ways, on perky social media clips and meticulously chosen podcasts and radio programmes.<\/p>\n

There he was, bright and breezy, on BBC Radio 5 Live\u2019s 5am Wake Up to Money, a show he told producer Stefan Jajecznyk he listens to \u201cwhen he has to be up so early\u201d. Presented by the warm, savvy Felicity Hannah, it opens with her explaining how Burnham\u2019s team got in touch with hers directly, before cutting to their chat in a sweltering, noisy community hub.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can accept the criticism that this isn\u2019t enough,\u201d Burnham replies when Hannah suggests his recent slew of announcements were \u201csmall potatoes\u201d in the cost of living crisis<\/a>. \u201cWhat you\u2019ve got to do is put in an accumulation of smaller things that will combine to put the pressure down.\u201d Even when he\u2019s circling a firm answer, Burnham\u2019s boy-next-door pragmatism still sounds strikingly fresh.<\/p>\n

So does his bluntness. What keeps you awake at night? Hannah asks. \u201cPretty much all of it. There\u2019s also so much to deal with \u2013 you\u2019re kind of ready to retire when it comes to the end of the day.\u201d Hannah then asks a funny question: \u201cAre you growing the economy on vibes?\u201d Fair play on his response. \u201cNo! If I\u2019d tried that in Greater Manchester I\u2019d have got nowhere.\u201d<\/p>\n

Being interviewed by women also detracts from the bantery, blokeish slant of some of Burnham\u2019s recent pub and football-related contentBeing interviewed by women also detracts from the bantery, blokeish slant of some of Burnham\u2019s recent pub and football-related content<\/p>\n

Burnham also spoke to LBC again (the station bagged the first post-Makerfield byelection<\/a> interview, carried out by Andrew Marr) about the state of Britain\u2019s high streets. You\u2019ve probably already heard about the moment when he misnamed his favourite item from Greggs, prompted by a question from twentysomething reporter Henry Riley. The branch nearest to No 10 North in Manchester renamed the pastry in question the \u201csausage, cheese and bean thing\u201d, doubling its sales; it\u2019s now even had a name change nationally. The social media meme-ification of this radio moment, like so many others, gave it its status, and its quicksilver energy.<\/p>\n

Burnham\u2019s appearance on Elizabeth Day\u2019s podcast earlier this month was more of a surprise (as was the message that popped up when I tried to listen to it on my podcast provider: \u201cTo listen to explicit podcasts, sign in\u201d). \u201cWe don\u2019t often get politicians who are willing to admit to their mistakes,\u201d begins Day, as glossily professional as ever, before describing her subject\u2019s failed first attempt to get into Cambridge, his brief time as a journalist working on \u201cillustrious titles like Container Management\u201d (which is why he won\u2019t go on Have I Got News for You, he explains, because \u201cthey would make [it] their guest publication\u2026 and read out my old articles\u2026 I couldn\u2019t bear the humiliation!\u201d), and his two previous failed Labour party leadership bids.<\/p>\n

These 49 minutes of How to Fail With Elizabeth Day are a masterclass in relatable, ever so slightly edgy charm. As well as the moment that went viral about his wife (Marie-France van Heel texted him \u201cANSWER THE F***ING QUESTION\u201d after hearing one of his interviews), we hear Burnham admit to stealing communion wine as a Catholic altar boy (\u201cI\u2019m not going to claim I\u2019m the most observant\u201d) and remembering how he tried to convince his father that studying English literature at university was important by showing him the Arthur Scargill quote at the beginning of Tony Harrison\u2019s 1985 poem V. \u201cDoing English is intensely political; it\u2019s about your power to get your point over and communicate well,\u201d Burnham adds, revealingly.<\/p>\n

Being interviewed by women also detracts from the bantery, blokeish slant of some of Burnham\u2019s recent pub and football-related content, while quotes about his generation of politicians being \u201cguilty of a shameful dereliction of duty\u201d and \u201cshameful cowardice\u201d present him as a radical leader paving his dynamic pathway of change. Then you remember there have been no shiny interviews yet about the UK\u2019s continuing raging wildfires<\/a>, or meme-able content about his opinions on oil-drilling<\/a> or the Israel Defense Forces. The prime minister\u2019s listening tour may be ongoing on the road and on the air, but his ears, and ours, need to keep paying attention.<\/p>\n

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