Frank Haviland

It’s not unknown for Prime Ministers to go into hiding. Gordon Brown famously ‘bunkered down’ during the most turbulent periods of his premiership. Keir Starmer regularly ran off to the continent - always more popular, where people didn’t know who he was. It’s quite something else, however, for Prime Ministers to play hide ’n seek before their coronation. Andy Burnham wants to do things differently. He finally emerged from hiding on Friday, to give his first speech as Labour leader and de facto PM.

I was on a Zoom call with an old friend the other day, when he asked where I stood on Sadiq Khan - to which I promptly replied, “preferably on his gullet”. He proceeded to inform me, with a satisfied smirk, that the Mayor of London was in line for elevation to the peerage. “That’s a blow to closet Islamophobes like you, isn’t it?!” my pal continued, somewhat tongue-in-cheek. For the record, there’s nothing ‘closet’ about my Islamophobia. Although I must confess, this is decidedly a blow.

When asked what was most likely to throw a government off course, Harold Macmillan famously replied: “Events, dear boy, events”. I reflect on this sometimes, particularly when appraising whichever short-term lightweight happens to be squatting in Number 10. You can tell a great deal about a Prime Minister by which “events” they consider worth being blown off course for. Do not be deceived by his pudgy Postman Pat paunch, Downing Street’s current incumbent is a lightweight of the first water.