Writing in the Daily Mail, columnist Dan Hodges argues that new Prime Minister Andy Burnham is embracing an unashamedly "tax and spend" socialist identity rather than disguising his instincts, as previous Labour leaders such as Tony Blair and Keir Starmer did by presenting themselves as something other than traditional left-wingers. Hodges suggests this is a deliberate strategy: Burnham's team believe leaning into Northern, working-class branding and attacking Thatcherism will shore up Labour's left flank against threats from the Greens, Jeremy Corbyn's "Your Party" and pro-Palestinian factions, while also appealing to Red Wall voters crucial to any future electoral majority.

The piece centres on Burnham's first clash with Opposition leader Kemi Badenoch at Prime Minister's Questions, during which she branded him a "spendthrift Prime Minister" wedded to "the same old Labour politics of tax and spend" amid concerns over bond market instability. Hodges notes that Burnham does not deny the charge, and cites a government minister's view that, since Starmer won a Commons majority of 170 with only around 34% of the vote, Labour need not build a broad electoral coalition but can instead focus on winning over enough working-class voters while the Conservatives and Reform UK remain divided.