Welcome back to the millennium!
We’ve got former prime ministers re-entering the political debate, former health secretaries grappling with major policy reviews, and plenty of figures - both inside and outside Government - still vying to be Prime Minister…
Read all about the tumult in this week’s Who’s Top, Who’s Not - brought to you by Whitehouse’s Sophie Brownlee
Top: Pat McFadden MP
Mainly on top for changing the conversation from what’s happening in Makerfield, the Work and Pensions Secretary has loaded his own in-tray with the results of an interim report he commissioned.
McFadden commissioned former health secretary Alan Milburn to investigate why so many young people are not in employment, education or training – commonly known as NEETs.
The review’s recommendations won’t be revealed until Milburn publishes his final report, but the interim findings will only create more headaches for the Government. Milburn points to a lack of support to help people find jobs they’re able to perform, as well as the NHS failing to engage with employers about health-related workplace adjustments. Milburn also argued that schools need to better prepare pupils for the workplace, and that devolution could go further in giving fuller powers and control. Milburn explicitly pointed to the Government’s reorganisation of council areas as adding “further uncertainty at the worst possible time”.
While McFadden is to be commended for tackling what is clearly a defining issue for a generation, Milburn’s findings risk being sidelined in the ongoing Government psychodrama, and yet another issue that the public can point to Labour not taking a strong stance on. Labour may maintain that they are continuing to do the job of governing and whether they can make true headway on a report such as this will be revealing.
McFadden acknowledged there is more to do and said that the Government was taking action to support young people. If things keep going the way they are, it may not be McFadden’s problem to deal with.
Middle: Rupert Lowe
We’re into the true world of multi-party politics in the microcosm of the Makerfield byelection. Rupert Lowe’s Restore Britain has dramatically entered the fray, with his name bouncing around both in focus groups and on posters across the constituency.
A recent Survation poll – albeit small – had Restore in third on 7%, behind Labour on 43% and Reform nipping at their heels on 40%. Restore has not just been throwing their money around but also their digital weight, spending on ads designed to attack Reform as well as utilising Lowe’s 1.3 million following on Facebook.
This creates serious potential for the vote on the right to be split between Restore and Reform, making it more likely that Burnham will be hiring those movers for No 10. Digital reach may of course not account for actual support in the constituency but Lowe and Restore have also not yet had the same level of media scrutiny as other politicians and parties, enabling him to connect with voters – however few – without mediation or challenge.
There’s plenty of time yet for all parties to dial up the heat in the constituency (and you thought this heatwave was over, didn’t you?) but it could just be down to Reform and Restore to oust Starmer in the end, just maybe not in the way they thought.
Bottom: Tony Blair
Who thought Tony Blair would be back in the political charts, albeit at the bottom of them, in 2026?
For those that didn’t see it, Blair brought Starmer’s dreams of a quiet week crashing back down to earth as the former PM criticised the current administration for having no coherent plan for Britain, among other things. What was generally agreed upon by commentators and parties was that this was an unnecessary swipe. Even Wes Streeting may not feel this is the best way in which to be called a “huge political talent”.
Cue all leadership hopefuls lining up to rebut Blair’s accusations on various fronts with Burnham and Streeting both opting to focus on how Blair never mentioned inequality. The challenge of course is can would be Prime Ministers like Streeting and Burnham provide that plan that Blair claims is lacking?
The last thing Starmer needs when he’s trying to shore up support both within his own party and with the public is a broadside from someone now comfortably removed from the fray. For the Prime Minister, it creates more distraction and invites more questions at a time when he’d really rather his Cabinet be speaking about the 37 Bills they trailed in the King’s Speech. Coming in the run-up to the Makerfield by-election Blair’s intervention almost feels distinctly designed to irritate, even if they don’t sting.
To the public, it only strengthens the feeling that Labour is more preoccupied with infighting and arguing amongst themselves than forging a way ahead for the country.