Burnham brings a different perspective, says ex-MP

A former Stoke-on-Trent MP says she is optimistic about Andy Burnham's promise to provide "good growth to every postcode" if he becomes prime minister.

Joan Walley, who represented Stoke-on-Trent North between 1983 and 2015, told BBC Radio Stoke she got to know Burnham during his first period in parliament, between 2001 and 2017, when he was elected mayor of Greater Manchester.

"We're friends in the sense that our politics are very, very, very similar," Walley said.

But Burnham's approach has been criticised by some, including the chair of the Conservative Party, who feel it could increase bureaucracy and delay decision-making.

Walley's view though is that he has a "sense of urgency" in how he works - a view taken through a bond forged over a similarity in their constituencies - Burnham having been MP for Leigh, Greater Manchester.

It developed further when Walley and Burnham, along with Yorkshire MP Michael Clapham, were asked by late deputy Labour leader John Prescott to take part in a coal mining review, investigating issues in former coal mining areas.

"We worked on this mining review and he was hardworking, he was conscientious, he was really likeable, but more than anything else he was able to work in a team and together we got things done," Walley remembers.

"That, really, has stuck with me all these years and that's formed a bond of friendship that Andy and I still have to this day."

Walley said if Burnham becomes prime minister he would use his knowledge of the north of England to add "a different perspective" and a sense of "urgency", as well as a platform for improving parts of the country outside London and the south east.

"He's worked in that way in Manchester, and seen how a place can start to look up rather than look down, and I just feel that it's very much a symbolic way of saying, 'It's not just what happens in Whitehall or in Westminster that matters, it's what matters for the whole of the country'."

However, opposition parties have been voicing criticism over Burnham's approach.

"Andy Burnham's big idea is to shuffle power between politicians," said Conservative Party chair Kevin Hollinrake.

"Not fix the welfare system. Not cut the taxes strangling working families and British business. Not fund the defence our country desperately needs.

"Just more devolution, more committees, more process. It's the politics of distraction from a Labour Party that is deliberately avoiding the questions that actually matter."

Burnham has also been accused of showing a "lack of knowledge" about Scotland by First Minister John Swinney.

Meanwhile, Walley said Sir Keir Starmer had done "the gracious thing" by stepping down as prime minister after repeated calls for him to resign in recent months.

She said she hoped Burnham would be given a chance by the media to make a success of leading the government if he were to become prime minister.

Follow BBC Stoke & Staffordshire on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.