Welcome to an exclusive Ask Me Anything session with me, Chris Blackhurst, columnist at The Independent, on the small matter of Britain’s new prime minister.
To see my questions and answers, scroll down – and don’t forget to press “load more” to catch the full Q&A.
Andy Burnham has been confirmed as Labour leader unopposed, after nominations flooded in from almost all Labour MPs bar 26. He officially takes over as prime minister on Monday, with parliament conveniently in recess, meaning no scrutiny from the Commons until September.
In his first speech as leader, he declared that “Britain took a series of wrong turns in the 1980s”, pledging to unpick the economic settlement Margaret Thatcher left behind. That’s a big claim from a man who has spent a decade proving his ideas work well in one city and is about to find out whether they work in 650 constituencies.
He’s reportedly eyeing an extra £38bn in tax and hasn’t ruled out a wealth tax, all while carrying the “King of the North” label into a job that requires him to answer for the South too. With the markets already jittery about UK borrowing costs, Burnham has inherited less room for manoeuvre than any incoming prime minister in years.
I’ll be discussing all of this – whether Burnham can afford his own ambitions, what “business-friendly socialism” means once you're accountable for the whole country, and whether the North/South framing helps or hurts him – in an exclusive Ask Me Anything session for The Independent.
I’ve spent years as a business journalist, watching how governments’ promises hold up against economic reality – and I’ll be here to answer all your questions, so fire away below.
Submit your questions below and join me for the Ask Me Anything Q&A on Monday 20 July, from 5pm to 6pm BST. I’ll try to answer as many as I can within the hour!
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