Andy Burnham’s first 100 days leave voters cold and unconvinced

A third of the voters who expected Andy Burnham to be good as prime minister have already been disappointed, according to a YouGov poll as he nears his 100th day in office on Tuesday.

The findings land as a blunt wake-up call for a leader who hoped charm and soft messaging would repair Labour after Sir Keir Starmer’s dire spell. The Independent reports the numbers are not Starmer-bad, yet they are nowhere near good enough for a honeymoon that is meant to be the easiest stretch any new prime minister gets.

Only 35 per cent of those asked had expected Mr Burnham to be good in the first place. A third of that group, 12 per cent overall, now say they are let down. Another 37 per cent expected disappointment and almost two thirds of them feel confirmed in that view. Fourteen per cent who braced for letdown now rate him good, won over in part by a £2 bus fare cap and VAT off energy bills.

Those measures still read as tinkering at the edges. Mr Burnham talks of “growth in every postcode” and tackling the rising cost of living while conflicts grind on in the Middle East and Ukraine. He sets high aims, bolder than his predecessor’s, yet has so far avoided testing himself in the open.

He has not held a proper press conference where journalists can put whatever they want to him on camera. Social care remains a familiar promise with no clear solution, the same issue that defeated him as health secretary 17 years ago. TikTok clips on pub snacks and toy buses may cheer backbenchers and lift Labour’s poll numbers from the floor, but wary voters are not convinced he is the real deal.

Good vibes meet a cynical country

Britain has watched seven prime ministers in a decade. Electors are cautious for a reason. A prime minister who can talk a good game still has to prove he can deliver. Obsession with devolution does not match what most people care about day to day. Better ratings than Starmer are a low bar when that premiership was already marked by riots and the winter fuel cut that hammered pensioners.

This is the judgement plain: vibes, bus fares and energy VAT will not carry a government when households want control over costs, borders and a state that works. Labour still owes the country proof, not performance. The first 100 days are supposed to build trust. These figures show how thin that trust remains.

Things only get harder from here. The poll will not start a countdown on Mr Burnham’s exit the way Starmer’s early months did, yet it should kill any rush toward an early election. He has turned around some dire ratings. He has much left to prove before the public treats him as more than a temporary upgrade.

Downing Street cannot treat “meh” as a success. The easiest period is already fading. Delivery on growth, living costs and the long-failed social care file will decide whether the next stretch looks like recovery or another Labour drift that leaves voters colder still.

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Original source: The Independent