Andy Burnham thinks his critics need a new joke about him. The old one about a Blairite, a Brownite and a Corbynite walking into a bar (‘Hello, Mr Burnham,’ says the barman) is about to be eclipsed. On Monday, it won’t be a barman offering good wishes – it will be the Cabinet Secretary, Antonia Romeo, when Burnham walks into No. 10 as Britain’s 59th prime minister.

Before that, on Friday, Burnham will accept the leadership of the Labour party, unopposed, at the headquarters of the Trades Union Congress. The speech he will give is still being worked on, but Burnham is ‘holding the pen himself’, aides say. And one idea he wants to land with his party is the same point he has been making in private over the past week in the corner office in Portcullis House, where the preparations for his premiership are being drawn up. ‘I’ve heard him talk about that joke in the last week,’ says one key team member. ‘He says, “That joke says more about the people that tell it than it does about me.” Because he’s not a factional person. He wants a broad church.’

In his acceptance speech, Burnham will acknowledge that Labour has been abandoned by many of its traditional supporters. He will draw on the history of the Labour party, its birth in Wales and the labour movement and formative episodes of its development, in an effort to reconnect his party with the voters it has lost around the country. ‘He will talk about the origins of the party and all of these places along the way that made it the movement that it is and then how that links into his views,’ says a source familiar with the developing text.

There has been no opportunity to quiz incoming ministers. ‘It has been vibes heavy and detail light’

There has been no opportunity to quiz incoming ministers. ‘It has been vibes heavy and detail light’

Burnham will repeat what he has told his team in private: ‘People didn’t move away from the party. The party left them.’ One of his team says: ‘It’s his job as Labour leader, as well as prime minister, to try to transform us back into a party that people feel that they can gravitate towards again.’

That means addressing no-go areas for Labour and a determination to be ‘uncompromising’ in fighting for votes in areas where Labour has been haemorrhaging support to Reform. He will embark on a tour from ‘the back end of August’, an aide says. ‘He wants to get out into these places in the country where Labour has lost favour with people or that are difficult places for us to go at the moment, and confront those issues head on.’

Unlike Keir Starmer, he intends to win back voters with a positive message, rather than demonising Nigel Farage as a fascist. ‘You don’t need to sling mud at your opposition,’ says a leading figure in the by-election campaign. ‘He didn’t at any point attack Farage in Makerfield. He is really clear on that, internally as well… We have to sell a message that people want to buy. He did do that in Makerfield.’

To the country, Burnham will offer an apology. ‘He thinks politics hasn’t been good enough,’ an adviser reveals. ‘He’ll say it’s not met the bar of people’s expectations, and politicians haven’t, and we need to do better.’

Burnham also plans to weaponise his natural optimism, giving voters the impression that ‘the cavalry’s arrived’. He has learnt from Starmer’s first mistake on arrival in Downing Street, peddling doom and gloom which affected economic optimism and growth. ‘Andy’s got a sense of fairness and hope and optimism in his framing of announcements,’ an aide says. ‘He’s really trying to do things differently from how Keir set off two years ago. The tone needs to be more optimistic while still confronting the very real challenges that are ahead of us.’

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