# Paranoia in the Labour Party: the Andy Burnham enigma

An episode of [The State of It](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1603820936), 2 Jul 2026, 20 min.

Audio: https://sphinx.acast.com/p/acast/s/times-daily-world-briefing/e/6a4680ca8890f0eef3a5610b/media.mp3

Andy Burnham is keeping his cards close to his chest and no one seems to know who'll get what job. That means there's a huge amount of paranoia and jostling for position the Labour Party. Cabinet ministers and MPs are lavishing praise upon him, but they're worried about his plans - both on policy and personnel. There's a lot of ill-feeling that could bubble up to the surface surprisingly quickly. Steven Swinford, political editor, The Times Patrick Maguire, chief political commentator, The Times Producers: Euan Dawtrey, Harry Kitson Executive producer: Molly Guinness Picture: Getty Images 00:00 - Burnham's Intense One-on-One MP Meetings 00:32 - Paranoia and Panic in the Cabinet 01:44 - Will Burnham Appeal to Southern Voters? 02:50 - Desperate Ministers Begging to Keep Their Jobs 03:40 - The Ghost of 2007: Burnham's "Woman Problem" 06:13 - Ed Miliband's Chancellor Dilemma 07:18 - How Departments Are Pandering to Burnham 08:29 - Is David Miliband Making a Comeback? 10:54 - The Real Reason Angela Rayner Has Been Weakened 13:10 - Burnham's Frustration with Westminster "Ambulance Chasers" 16:56 - A Long Goodbye: Starmer's Farewell Barbecues 17:30 - The £15 Billion Defence Plan Black Hole 18:20 - Government Paralysis and the Rochdale Case This podcast was brought to you thanks to subscribers of The Times and The Sunday Times. To enjoy unlimited digital access to all our journalism subscribe here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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