After a post-Brexit decade dominated by angry rightwing politics, Labour infighting, never-ending culture wars and online acrimony, Burnham’s affable, seemingly inclusive politics has a strong initial appeal. As an insecure party, temperamentally and electorally, Labour is periodically drawn towards a politics of national unity. Yet only its most articulate and assured leaders, such as Tony Blair, Harold Wilson and perhaps now Burnham, successfully pull this off. So how is his politics of unity likely to fare once he starts making lots of enemies? Or they could show that Burnham’s bolder ideas, developed relatively recently, are still outweighed by his instinct not to upset people.