LONDON — Britain’s political leadership is about to get a glow-up.
On Monday, Keir Starmer is set to hand over as prime minister of the U.K. to Andy Burnham, the former mayor of Greater Manchester.
Along with the injection of new personnel at the top of the government, the transition will also bring about an overhaul of political styles.
Out will go the buttoned-up Starmer, 63, a methodical London lawyer who was a knight of the realm and a pillar of the establishment even before he entered politics. In will come 56-year-old Burnham — a frequent social media poster, who has developed a chatty, smiling demeanor in his selfie videos, and prefers to wear a jacket and T-shirt to work.
Burnham won a special election in Makerfield last month, gaining a path back to Westminster and the chance to stand for the Labour leadership. He’s set to become party leader on Friday and be appointed prime minister by King Charles III on Monday — a meeting at which a formal suit and tie will no doubt be required.
But his day-to-day look is likely won’t change. The question will be whether Burnham’s carefully curated, dressed-down brand can win back voters who have abandoned Labour two years after the party was elected in a landslide. Burnham, and the MPs who are handing him power, clearly believe it helps.
“Politicians have always used outfits to send a message,” said James Lyons, former strategic communications director in Starmer’s Downing Street. Winston Churchill had a “siren suit” he wore during World War II air raids, and Margaret Thatcher famously carried a handbag everywhere she went, he said.
“Andy rightly wants to hang on to his Manchester identity but realizes you also have to dress for the job,” said Lyons, now a senior partner at Penta Group, a corporate advisory firm. “I’d expect a suit when he has to, and T-shirts when he doesn’t.”
‘Dark blue, actually’
Burnham’s Makerfield campaign was unique in including a memoji-style avatar image of him on posters, with his trademark T-shirt, jacket and black glasses. Labour’s brand was largely absent, and the posters simply urged Makerfield residents to “VOTE ANDY FOR US.”
He opened his first major speech as a party leadership candidate — in Manchester, of course — with a string of light-hearted references to his own wardrobe. Burnham told the audience he’d “had to get special permission” to wear his “Manchester clothes” — a T-shirt with a smart jacket — for the occasion.
Then he made a joke about being pictured out for a jog in a pair of shorts that some commentators felt should have been a little longer. “I have bought some new running shorts,” he said. “It was either do that or change the decency laws.” In a third self-deprecating comment, he noted that the venue for his speech, the People’s History Museum, displays one of his own old coats in a “glass case.”
Burnham’s opponents have already taken note.
Conservative Leader Kemi Badenoch dismissed him as “a pair of eyelashes and a black T-shirt.” He could have just ignored the jibe. But instead, he posted a short selfie video in which he fluttered his lashes, looked down at his T-shirt, and said, “It’s dark blue actually.”
Manchester chic
Labour MPs have picked Burnham as their new leader and the country’s next prime minister, in part because his informal style contrasts with Starmer’s and is intended to send a clear signal to voters about whose side the party is on.
Burnham trades on his Northern English — read working-class — roots, whereas Starmer is a Londoner who has worn a suit to the office throughout his career and is often derided as a member of the metropolitan “elite.” In less formal moments, Starmer often swaps his white shirt and tie for a black or navy open-necked shirt under a jacket, though appearances in a tee are rare.
How Burnham communicates is as distinctive as how he dresses. He wears his heart on his short sleeves with a rhetorical style that is personal, plain-speaking and can be emotive, whereas Starmer’s delivery can seem staid and, at times, awkward.
The difference in styles is clearest in the way the two politicians use social media. Even in his social videos, Starmer is often smart, and the content is professionally produced, talking directly into a fixed camera.
Burnham’s team can also make slick films, but he shoots plenty of selfie videos on his phone, too — in the back of a cab or on a station platform. The impression given is of a close-up glimpse of an apparently ordinary man in settings that voters can instantly relate to.
“Burnham is meeting the voter, and future voters where they are — and that’s online,” said Katie Perrior, a former communications director in Theresa May’s Downing Street operation. “By posting regular updates, he is showing what he is up to as an antidote to Starmer, who they saw as being nowhere, even though he was putting in the hard yards behind the scenes.”
There are risks, though, to Burnham winning a following for his regular behind-the-scenes clips about his daily movements, said Perrior, founder and chair of iNHouse Communications. “The downside is it can appear celebrity-like and not serious enough, and may become tricky when the going gets tough.”
Football lads
Beneath the surface, Starmer and Burnham share many attributes. Ironically, according to Lyons, Starmer also loves to dress down whenever he can, “just not on camera.”
Both politicians are huge football fans — Starmer is an Arsenal supporter while Burnham backs Everton — and keen amateur players, too.
Burnham’s record as a sports supporter is also central to his political identity. He long campaigned for justice for the victims of the 1989 Hillsborough stadium disaster, a fatal crowd crush in which 97 people died.
In one recent video posted on X, Burnham strapped a camera — captioned as the “Andy Cam” — to himself and set off for a run, during which he discussed the England team’s prospects at the football World Cup.
Outside Burnham’s Northern heartland, voters are yet to be convinced that he can necessarily be trusted. Southerners are particularly skeptical.
When it comes to the clothes the likely next prime minister wears, however, the country at large seems to be quite relaxed, according to new results from Public First, POLITICO’s polling partners.
Overall, 44 percent of adults say it doesn’t matter how Burnham dresses as prime minister, although, in general, respondents tend to accept that wearing a T-shirt makes him look less professional.
More than half of respondents — 53 percent — say the way Burnham dresses makes him seem in touch with ordinary people. Even center-right Conservative voters tend to agree.
Most respondents also say his casual T-shirt or open-necked shirt makes him seem more authentic. Men are more likely than women to think he should switch to wearing a formal suit.
What could go wrong?
Darren Lilleker, professor of political communication at Bournemouth University, said Burnham was trying to introduce himself to a country that didn’t know much about him and to show voters he understood their concerns, in part by dressing informally.
“What he’s doing is trying to be a complete contrast to Keir Starmer,” Lilleker said. “I don’t think he can do a huge amount differently with the economy. What he has to do is present this in a way that [convinces voters] he’s doing his best for the people.”
Lilleker said the old rule that “politicians have to look a certain way to be credible” no longer necessarily applies, as fewer people across society wear suits and ties or other formal attire to work.
But is there a risk in being too image-conscious?
Mayors who become prime minister, like Burnham and former London mayor Boris Johnson before him, are unusual in British politics in that they have won personal mandates, directly elected by voters in the cities they ran.
Some politicians, Lilleker said, want to have that “personal vote” and like the idea that people chose them rather than their party.
If Burnham’s brand is just a vehicle for him to communicate with the electorate, “that’s fine,” Lilleker said. “But if it becomes mixed up in your own personality, it could become a problem.”
