For Andy Burnham the biggest challenge is to avoid going down like Gordon Brown, who passed up the chance of calling an election in autumn 2007, when he was newly in office and public opinion of him was still quite high, only to crash to defeat two and a half years later. The memory of that time, when Burnham himself was health secretary, has no doubt fed into the reports that Downing Street advisers are considering the case for an election next spring.

Has the moment of the progressive alliance finally arrived?

Has the moment of the progressive alliance finally arrived?

The bad news for Burnham is that the decision is even more difficult for him than it was for Brown. He would be giving up a massive majority, and for what? Almost no one thinks that he can win any kind of majority. On the other hand, until he wins a personal mandate he will remain the prisoner of Labour’s 2024 manifesto, which he doesn’t seem to like very much, as it promised no changes to the main rates of tax, while offering little in the way of nationalisation.

Could Burnham settle for........

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