“People pleaser!” That’s the insult Andy Burnham’s enemies sneer at him. And yes, he will need all his mightiest people-pleasing talents to win over voters to contribute to a new national care service. Choosing this forever failed policy (22 major reviews over three decades) as his first great challenge is a remarkable act of bravery. No mere people pleaser would dare step on this political live rail.

It will use up vast amounts of political capital to get a national care service off the ground. He hardly needed Tuesday’s Mail front page (“Burnham’s £18bn ‘death tax’ nightmare”) to remind him. But he has already fought on the battleground that is social care reform. “I do have some of the scars,” he said. How good to also hear him take a firm swipe at media attackers, who will now redouble their efforts. “You can’t create scare stories when people are already scared by what they’re seeing anyway through their own eyes in their own homes or in care homes,” he said. This is no grasp at low-hanging fruit, no search for a quick win. It’s a cause of deep conviction.

In his speech from a north London care home, the prime minister told of his father with dementia, and of the struggle for families to get any help, the poor quality of much of it, the astronomical costs for some and the profiteering of private equity firms buying up care homes. That will have resonated with many, but his challenge now is to win the attention, hearts and minds of those who know nothing of social care. Making people care about care is the first vital step.

A survey last year found 33% of people in England believed care was generally free at the point of need, like the NHS, and another 18% didn’t know whether it was. Many get a nasty shock when they need it for their family and find they must pay if they have savings above £23,250. Only 4% listed social care as a top priority for the country; its political salience is low........

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