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During 23 years with the BBC, and a 43 year journalistic career (when he was trained to use clear and simple language, avoiding jargon), for our Editor, Welshman Phil Parry, it has always been crucial to keep up to date with the latest trends in politics – and three have now emerged: ‘Manchesterism’, a love of football, as well as ‘Indie Rock Music’, The last of which particularly, a former MP in Wales may approve.
Almost everyone will know certain things about our new Prime Minister (PM) Andy Burnham, but other facts may, perhaps, be less well known.
It has been widely reported that Mr Burnham has endorsed ‘Manchesterism’ after his stint as Mayor of Greater Manchester, although I’m still a little in the dark about what this actually means.
He’s also a big football fan (but supports Everton), which is a major economic driver for Manchester as the city has two premiership teams.
If you look up ‘Manchesterism’ on the internet, it is described as: ‘…a political and economic philosophy championed by Andy Burnham, and defined as “business-friendly socialism”, regional devolution, and active public intervention. It relies on place-based governance rather than centralized control from Westminster’.
However WHAT exactly is this?!
There is though less doubt about another factor that drives him, and about which voters could know less; his love of Rock Music, in particular Indie Rock.
In this Mr Burnham appears to have the same tastes as some of his predecessors, yet he uses it to show how different he is.
Pledging the alternative while actually providing the mainstream has long been Mr Burnham’s strategy, and it could be argued that Indie Rock is the same.
Below a gold record from (Manchester band) The Smiths, on the wall at his new ‘Number 10 NORTH’ is a leaving gift from his time as Mayor of Greater Manchester, which is an armchair emblazoned with the words: “We do things differently here” – an apocryphal quote from Tony Wilson, a Manchester icon, the man behind trendy Manchester club The Hacienda, and founder of Factory Records in (of course) MANCHESTER!
Incidentally Mr Wilson took out an advert in my student paper when I was at the university there, but didn’t pay for it – I very much hope that this is NOT a metaphor for what we are about to see in the UK as a whole!
With his love of rock, Mr Burnham follows a fine tradition with many of our politicians, including our very own Kevin Brennan.
Others at high-levels in today’s UK governing Labour Party are also fans of Indie Rock.
Mr Brennan was for many years MP for Cardiff West, and is now Baron Brennan of Canton, but it is rarely headlined that he is also a good musician and plays in a parliamentary rock band with fellow politicians.
It’s called MP4 – geddit?!
They have helped to raise over £1 million for charity and have released an album as well as an EP.
He released his first solo album in 2021, and a folk album entitled The Clown and the Cigarette Girl which featured (ex-Sex Pistol Glen Matlock) on bass.
So it is seems clear that if you are left-of-centre, and want to get ahead in Labour politics today, it’s not just about loving Manchester or football, you also have to be into INDIE ROCK…
The memories of Phil’s decades-long award-winning career in journalism as he was gripped by the rare disabling condition Hereditary Spastic Paraplegia (HSP), have been released in a major book ‘A GOOD STORY’ (which includes his time at the University of MANCHESTER!). Order it now.
Tomorrow – how during his long journalistic career, for Phil the DEADLINE has always been central, but its importance might have seemed to be over with the rise of new technology and instant publication on social media, yet research today shows that it has remained vital – particularly in business!
