Will Labour MPs regret not testing ‘messiah’ Burnham?

Coronation or contest? Stitch-up or scrap? Since the ascent of the still relatively unknown Andy Burnham, these seem to be the most pressing questions facing the nation.

- SEAN O'GRADY

Labour is doing what it pledged not to, by indulging in the chaos and confusion for which it rightly criticised the previous government. But would a full leadership contest now help the party or the country? Would it be preferable to having Burnham installed unopposed in an “orderly transfer” of power? What’s wrong with a ‘coronation’?

An answer often given to that question is “Gordon Brown”. Back in 2007, Brown finally wrested power from Tony Blair by organising a parliamentary coup that made his predecessor’s position untenable (not unlike this summer’s events). Also similar to this summer was the way so many Labour MPs yearned to tilt leftwards from “New Labour”, and the sheer weight of support for Brown, such that no other candidate dared come forward for fear of subsequent exile and career death. So Brown took his long-planned coronation but, after a brief honeymoon, underperformed by bottling a snap election.