Tony Blair had some advice for his younger self this week, speaking at his eponymous institute’s glitzy summer party overlooking the Thames – and just a stone’s throw from where, nearly 30 years ago, he declared that a “new dawn” had broken on the night of Labour’s landslide election victory. Thinking of what he would say to the much younger man who stood on the cusp of power, the former prime minister paused for a moment. “You may think you’re going to be loved, but you’re not going to be,” he concluded. “Just try to be respected.” Rishi Sunak was among the assembled politicians and tech figures at the party who smiled in recognition.
It was aptly timed advice, equally applicable to another man who loves to be loved and who is days away from entering Downing Street. Andy Burnham “has a sure political touch” and is “a genuine people person”, Blair told his guests, comparing the incoming prime minister’s sincere interest in people with that of his friend Bill Clinton. Blair may have thrown a bomb into the Makerfield by-election campaign with his 5,000-word essay warning that Labour was “playing with fire” by changing leader – much to the displeasure of the Burnham team – but all is seemingly forgotten, on the Blair side at least. The pair have spoken privately in recent weeks, as Burnham makes his final preparations for entering No 10. Everyone is a Burnham fan now, while he is at the peak of his powers.
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