Andy Burnham is the Labour leader – third time lucky for the UK’s prime minister-in-waiting

Andy Burnham has won on his third attempt to be Labour’s leader. In a wide-ranging speech to Labour MPs at a special conference in London, a jubilant Burnham pledged to “bring back hope” and promised to be a leader for all nations of the UK. But it has taken him well over a decade to get here. In 2010, as a rising star associated with the Blairite wing, he made his first bid for the leadership.

In truth, back then he had little prospect of success: he was merely placing a marker. Five years later, he stood again but could do little to derail the Jeremy Corbyn bandwagon. Yet fast-forward…

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