Andy Burnham to Health

Andy Burnham, that football-mad Liverpool lad, is to be the new boss of the non-communist world’s largest workforce: Health Secretary. He has thus fulfilled the prophesy bestowed on him when he was named The Spectator-Threadneedle’s “minister to watch” in 2006. Burnham was a former health minister (I interviewed him in Richmond House at the time) so will know the department a bit. My guess is that we will see as much inactivity from him as we did from Alan Johnson. Burnham found being Chief Secretay to the Treasury too taxing during his six month stay there, and seemed delighted to be made minister for fun when he was moved to culture. He’ll have a lot less fun in the Department of Health.