Leftwing politicians must not blame the Americans who voted for Donald Trump to be US president, Labour’s mayoral candidate in Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, has said.
Speaking at the launch of his mayoral campaign in central Manchester, the MP for Leigh said the Republican candidate’s victory demonstrated that politics was broken and that the day after the shock result was the perfect time to launch his “radical” vision for the region.
“The old way of doing things isn’t just not working, it is the problem,” he said. “The culture in Washington, Brussels, Westminster – it’s the same. There’s a cosy political culture that has failed to see what globalisation and de-industrialisation means for ordinary people in their lives.”
Burnham, who served as Labour’s home affairs spokesman until last month, said the EU referendum was a “cry for change” from British voters that had been replicated in Tuesday’s election in the US.
“The worst thing … is for the people on the left of politics to somehow say that the voters are to blame because they don’t like their views,” said Burnham. “You know, that is just a misreading completely. People are saying they want something very different, and in my view they are right to say they have not been well served by the powers that be.”
Burnham said he found Trump’s divisive rhetoric deeply troubling, but argued that politicians should blame themselves for his success. “Rather than just saying it’s all the fault of the public … we have to look closer to home, and say, well, how about the parties that have represented the areas that are feeling this? Are we doing enough in representing them, and what are we doing to respond to their concerns?”
Labour’s mayoral candidate called on the left to engage directly with “working-class communities that feel that politics hasn’t worked for them”, warning that if it failed to do so it would “leave the streets to be filled with hate”.
Seven of Greater Manchester’s 10 council areas voted to leave the European Union during June’s referendum, with a total of about 700,000 leave votes and 600,000 votes to remain. Nine of the 10 councils are Labour-led and, barring unforeseen circumstances, Burnham is widely expected to win the mayoral election next May.
Last month, Sean Anstee, leader of Trafford council, became the first person to announce they would stand to be the Conservative party’s candidate in the race.
The region has a population of 2.8 million, and includes Bolton, Bury, Manchester, Oldham, Rochdale, Salford, Stockport, Tameside, Trafford and Wigan. The new mayor will have control over a portfolio of public services and a £900m, 30-year investment fund, and will sit on a board that oversees a devolved £6bn health and social care budget.
