Democracy Sausage: Broken Britain and the Burnham Moment
Political scientist Pat Leslie joins Mark and Maria to make sense of the collapse of the Starmer government and the rise of Andy Burnham.
How did a Prime Minister who won one of the largest parliamentary majorities in British history find himself gone within two years — and what does his fate tell us about the limits of triangulation politics? Is Andy Burnham’s victory a genuine realignment moment for British Labour, or is he inheriting a structurally broken state where no leader can succeed? With Reform UK on the march and the North-South divide wider than the gap between East and West Germany, can Burnham’s vision of devolution, constitutional reform and a written constitution offer a way out — and what can Australian politics learn from Britain’s decade of revolving-door prime ministers?
Dr Pat Leslie is a senior lecturer at the Crawford School of Public Policy. His research combines political science and public policy, with particular interests in legislative politics and legislation, law and courts, evidence in public policy, and political representation.
Dr Marija Taflaga is the Director of the ANU Centre for the Study of Australian Politics and a Lecturer at the ANU School of Politics and International Relations.
Mark Kenny is the Director of the Australian Studies Institute. He came to the Australian National University after a high-profile journalistic career culminating in 6 years as chief political correspondent and national affairs editor of The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, and The Canberra Times.
Democracy Sausage with Mark Kenny is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pocket Casts, Google Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. We’d love to hear your feedback on this series, so send in your questions, comments or suggestions for future episodes to democracysausage@anu.edu.au.
This podcast is produced by the Australian National University on the lands of the Ngunnawal, Ngambri and the Ngarigu peoples.
Top image: Adam Vaughan/EPA/AAP
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