Andy Burnham’s rapid ascent to prime minister is remarkable. Yet he will be the seventh UK occupant of Number 10 in a decade, signalling that all is not well with the public and politics in Britain today. Burnham has said “Britain is not where it should be.” He is right. But recognising the state we are in doesn’t mean it is simple to craft a route from economic stagnation, low wages, inflation, anger and populism to a resurgent renewed country and communities.

The key factor is temporal. Time to craft effective policies. Time to repeatedly explain new plans. Time to change the narrative. Time to embed reforms across Britain. Time to adjust. Time to fund and strengthen policies that deliver. Well-designed, effectively implemented policies on the NHS, on social care, on housing, on Devo-Max, Burnham-style, will take years, perhaps a decade, to be realised. So will the potential new PM get the years and relative political and economic stability needed to convert his promises to outcomes?

Unfortunately, our individual and societal infection by social media-personalised rabbit holes of algorithmically driven content could thwart the new PM and all future leaders.

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Andy Burnham? He’s just Labour’s version of Boris Johnson

In response, the Government should act to mitigate the worst effects of what one might call social media attention disorder – a corrosive acid eating away at our democracy and society that needs to be........

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