The Guardian view on Andy Burnham: political poetry must become governing prose | Editorial

Larkin, Harrison and Shakespeare shaped Labour’s leader. Now comes the harder task: turning language into lasting change

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Andy Burnham, now Labour leader, has long been shaped by literary influences like Philip Larkin, Tony Harrison, and Shakespeare, bringing a northern, provincial sensibility to national politics that values ordinary lives. The editorial notes that Burnham has often reversed the maxim that politicians campaign in poetry and govern in prose, but now faces the harder task of turning his vision into lasting change.

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