Does being a good mayor make you a good prime minister?
About this episode
The episode explores whether the experience of being a mayor can prepare someone for the role of prime minister, featuring insights from various mayors.
The Greater Manchester mayoralty made Andy Burnham famous. Now he's hoping he can take the approach he developed in the city to the whole country. This week on Westminster Insider, host Sascha O'Sullivan speaks to four serving mayors — and one former one about whether the role will prepare Burnham for the highest office in the land. Labour Mayor of the East Midlands Claire Ward, who was a minister in Gordon Brown's government, told Sascha that mayors have much more power than junior minister. Oliver Coppard, the Labour Mayor of South Yorkshire, explains how the job requires you to manage different competing interests, albeit on a smaller scale than as a prime minister. But former Mayor of the West Midlands Andy Street warns that when it comes to financial responsibility and party management — two pitfalls of Keir Starmer's leadership — the job of mayor is "totally different". Helen Godwin, West of England Mayor, and Kim McGuinness, Mayor of the North East, have graciously said they won't kick Burnham out of the Labour mayors' WhatsApp group if he becomes PM. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
People in this episode
Host: Sascha O'Sullivan
Guests: Andy Burnham, Claire Ward, Oliver Coppard, Andy Street, Helen Godwin, Kim McGuinness
Topics covered
- mayoral leadership
- political power
- Labour party
- government roles
- local vs national politics
Keywords
- mayor
- prime minister
- Andy Burnham
- Labour
- politics
- leadership
- government
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Labour, Gordon Brown's government, Keir Starmer's leadership
Places: Greater Manchester, East Midlands, South Yorkshire, West Midlands, West of England, North East
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- Andy Burnham: the man who wants to be PM
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