Is Andy Burnham dodging scrutiny, or is he just a different type of communicator?

Burnham arriving for LBC’s Andrew Marr show, after taking the unusual decision not to take any questions after Monday’s speech in Manchester. Photograph: Dan Kitwood/Getty Images View image in fullscreen Burnham arriving for LBC’s Andrew Marr show, after taking the unusual decision not to take any questions after Monday’s speech in Manchester. Photograph: Dan Kitwood/Getty Images Analysis Andy Burnham: dodging scrutiny, or just a different type of communicator? Peter Walker , Alexandra Topping and Pippa Crerar Avoiding traditional questions and stilted broadcast clips, PM-in-waiting has evolved his style of media management He is due to become prime minister in just over a fortnight as parliament begins its six-week summer break. But at a marquee speech this week , he took precisely zero questions. So is Andy Burnham, as opposition leader Kemi Badenoch claims, dodging scrutiny? His allies say no: he is simply going about it in his own way. The former Greater Manchester mayor is very obviously a different type of communicator from Keir Starmer , and thus always likely to convey his message in methods beyond Starmer’s traditional questions after a speech and the occasional stilted broadcast clip. Burnham’s media strategy so far has been shaped by two things: his greater ability to communicate more or less like an ordinary human, as demonstrated by his relaxed, at times almost whimsical social media videos; and also the more prosaic matters of logistics and media management. Into this latter box came the unusual decision for Burnham to not take any questions after Monday’s speech in Manchester. Timetabling was the official excuse. The real reason was a desire to convey his vision for the UK without it being demolished by unanswered queries about cabinet posts. Similarly, Burnham’s diary has now been compressed by access talks with the civil service in advance of his entering No 10, leaving minimal time to draft set-piece speeches, or even to prepare for a mass of interviews. This is not ideal, and while Burnham’s team were pleased by the coverage of Monday’s speech, they accept that Westminster’s political editors are unlikely to get on another early train to Manchester just to silently watch an address they could see on TV. Burnham thus submitted to an interview with Andrew Marr on LBC on Thursday night. Friday was to bring an “AMA” – ask me anything – reader Q&A on Reddit, with a grilling by users of Instagram on Saturday to follow. This approach has brought a slightly sniffy response from some opponents, with Badenoch saying on Friday: “I wouldn’t use Reddit as a way to show I was open to scrutiny. I think he can do a bit better than that.” It is, however, very deliberate that Burnham’s media plan is broad in scope and often based on direct questions from voters. “The biggest asset we have when it comes to Andy’s comms is his ability to connect with people,” a source in his camp said. “So we want to create opportunities for him to be able to do t