Tomorrow, the King of the North will grace southerners with his exalted presence and travel to London to claim the throne that he considers his by right.

Listen to this article

It’s as if he has hypnotised his party to lay down their collective shawls in order that the chosen one can walk on water. It’s as if the Messiah is coming to rescue those who have proven incapable of running the country. It’s almost as if he, like Barack Obama appeared to be in 2008, considers himself the only human being in the country who can come to its rescue.

He’s even using Obamaesque language, promising hope and change. Obama soon found out that governing was more difficult than that. Andy Burnham is about to discover the awful truth, that changing things in government and changing things in Whitehall are much more difficult. Having been a cabinet minister for three years under Blair and Brown, you’d think he might know that already.

I like Andy Burnham, but I’m afraid we are about to find out that our new emperor has no........

© LBC