Andy Burnham to channel Barack Obama with speech ‘all about hope’ at Labour conference

ANDY Burnham plans to channel former US President Barack Obama and make his debut Labour conference speech “all about hope”. The new Labour PM is facing a big test as he sets out his stall to the party faithful at their annual get-together in Liverpool next week. Andy Burnham will channel Barack Obama with a speech ‘all about hope’ at the upcoming Labour conference Credit: Shutterstock Editorial Obama’s 2008 US Presidential campaign centred around the message of ‘hope and change’ Credit: Alamy Government insiders said he plans to “do a Barack Obama” and promise to “inject hope” back into the country in his hotly-anticipated address. Barack Obama’s 2008 US Presidential campaign centred around the message of “hope and change”. Sign up for the Politics newsletter Thank you! It was famously captured in the iconic red and blue poster of Obama’s portrait with the word hope emblazoned underneath. A senior Labour Party source said: “Andy’s plan to try to do a Barack Obama and make his speech theme all about hope. READ MORE ON ANDY BURNHAM “They want to draw a line under the gloom of Keir Starmer’s time in No10. They want to make it all about hope – the vibes of Obama’s 2008 campaign.” It also echoes Bill Clinton’s 1992 campaign for the White House, in which the hopeful famously declared “I still believe in a Place Called Hope”.Bill Clinton grew up in a town called Hope in Arkansas. Mr Burnham ousted Sir Keir and became PM in July, and since then he has tried to strike a very different tone to the Starmer regime. He says he wants to put “hope in every heart” and spent his first month in No10 announcing small, popular measures to ease the cost of living crisis, such as a £2 cap on bus fares. Most read in The Sun But critics have attacked his premiership – saying ‘vibes’ and slick TikTok videos are no substitute for carrying out the public and economic reforms needed. Comment now