John Prescott announces he’s backing Burnham

In the coming weeks, leadership candidates aren’t just hoping to get endorsement from their fellow MPs, the four potential leaders will surely welcome the backing of high profile names to help them along with their campaigns.

John Prescott is latest person to give his support to one of the candidates. In his  column for the Mirror he has announced that he is backing Andy Burnham.

The former Deputy Prime Minister draws comparisons between Tony Blair and Burnham, while also highlighting Burnham’s working class background:

Before Tony became our leader, he spent 11 years as an MP. In that time he learned his brief, gained the ­experience, handled the media and won the public’s trust with an overwhelming landslide.

I have seen a lot of those skills and ­qualities in Andy Burnham during his 13 years as an MP. Many people talk about aspiration but Andy is a living example – a working class lad from Liverpool who went to a ­comprehensive and got a place at Cambridge University.

He worked as minister in the Home Office and the Treasury and became one of our best Health Secretaries.”

Prescott notes that although Blair “wasn’t the complete leader when he was elected… he had the potential, the ideas, the experience and the determination to succeed.” 

This Prescott says is what Labour needs, stressing that leading the party should be “someone who can earn the trust of the public and has an insatiable desire to help everyone get on in life…Andy also has that one thing all leaders crave – the common touch. I’ve seen him in small groups and big meetings. People instantly warm to the guy. He’s a family man who loves his football. He’s not just faking it like Cameron to be popular.”

But as well making this Prescott also points out that Burnham is aware of the policies Labour need to offer now, and says they are “true to Labour values.” He cites Burnham’s “10-year plan for an integrated National Health and Care Service” as “the best policy we had at the election” and says he would have “the same modern approach with housing, ­devolution, immigration, business and Europe – areas we were very weak in at the election.”

He ends by saying:

“We need someone to lead Now Labour.That’s why I’m backing Andy to be our leader. To unify our party, to lead our country and put our traditional values in a modern setting.”