A former Stoke-on-Trent MP says she is optimistic about Andy Burnham’s promise to provide “good growth to every postcode” if he becomes prime minister.
Joan Walley, who represented Stoke-on-Trent North between 1983 and 2015, told BBC Radio Stoke she got to know Burnham during his first period in parliament, between 2001 and 2017, when he was elected mayor of Greater Manchester.
“We’re friends in the sense that our politics are very, very, very similar,” Walley said.
But Burnham’s approach has been criticised by some, including the chair of the Conservative Party, who feel it could increase bureaucracy and delay decision-making.
Walley’s view though is that he has a “sense of urgency” in how he works – a view taken through a bond forged over a similarity in their constituencies – Burnham having been MP for Leigh, Greater Manchester.
It developed further when Walley and Burnham, along with Yorkshire MP Michael Clapham, were asked by late deputy Labour leader John Prescott to take part in a coal mining review, investigating issues in former coal mining areas.
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