In recent speeches Andy Burham has used memories of his father as an emotional connection with his Party and with the electorate. But are these tactics impactful? And what pitfalls might he be creating for himself?
For some time, we have known, but have had little recognition of, the force community can play in our enacted leadership practices. My own research has highlighted how actions like being friendly, encouraging belonging and inclusion in our societies can have an important impact on how we lead teams, organisations and society.
Learning from community ideals helps us resonate with those around us to create connections and relationships that can last and be powerful. What we see in the recent speeches by Andy Burham though is a look back towards how things were, bringing into focus nostalgia as an important community-based leadership frame.
In this Blog I would like to explore this focus on nostalgia in leadership and highlight the advantages and pitfalls in using nostalgia as a leadership tactic.
The leadership tightrope
In voicing his grief at his dad’s loss and what that brings to his leadership character is an important part of his leadership narrative within his 2026 Labour Party conference speech. This alongside the constant comparison of his leading role in Manchester and his new leadership role are all wrapped up in how he has engaged with the community around him.
There is also constant media attention on his role as Mayor of Manchester, which creates its own nostalgia.
This is the tightrope he walks; how can he regain his link to community ideals he campaigned for within Manchester and how can this then be brought into the national leadership limelight?
We are seeing this struggle already with his recent comments of the plight of Manchester City football club. Having been found guilty of over a hundred breaches of the Premier Leagues financial regulations the football club finds itself in a precarious position within football’s elite.
The Prime Minister’s initial response was one of hope that the owners did not sell up and move on, hence damaged the fiscal power dynamics within Manchester. This has been met with some reaction where he has been accused of supporting an elite that have transgressed the rules.
Is this another example of the emotive draw of nostalgia? Might we lose what we once had? Could this be a downside to nostalgia? Are there others?
One other example we see in current society is the rise of populism across the world and a temptation with a nostalgic perspective is the pull of populism.
The pull of populism
One might argue that what the Prime Minister is doing is playing populist leaders at their own game. The impending force of Reform in the UK polls was one of the reasons why Labour felt the need to change from the leadership of Keir Starmer.
The focus on nostalgia therefore isn’t necessarily surprising, and it is not too distinct from Donald Trump’s – ‘Make America Great Again’ MAGA campaign. Here Trump uses powerful memories of the industrial America that he grew up within and what his supporters want to see rise again. So, care needs to be taken as a more populist agenda based on nostalgia can impact communities in more dubious ways.
How so? Well, what I mean here is that when large rallies come together communities are then mixed under one banner – in Donald Trump’s case – MAGA. This means community meaning becomes diluted or even lost and hence they will fail to gain what they need to survive and flourish.
How might we avoid this? This takes a contained retrospective, where leaders maintain a community focus. Going and engaging with groups and communities is important here. Avoiding the extrapolation of messages across wider audiences where the community base is lost must be avoided. Leaders need to maintain the ‘community voice’.
Maintaining the community voice
Gaining insights into the real needs of community through nostalgia, knowing what we need from what we had is an important part of the leadership narrative and needs to be carefully crafted and harnessed.
I am mindful here of the work by Bristol Leadership and Change Centre colleague – Rob Sheffield – and his book – ‘Pieces of Us’ by Jem Peel and Rob Sheffield, as featured on the Bristol Leadership and Change Centre blog.
His book celebrates the voices of a small community in South Wales. This is a wonderful example of how you can gain from looking back and taking stock of how communities can learn from the past and develop for the future.
Sticking to the grassroots and avoiding the generalised messages of populist leaders will serve Andy Burham well and will serve us all well in our quest for a healthy and enriched society.
What are the take aways for leaders? Well, firstly, make sure to resonate with community ideals and concerns, make sure to be community minded – by this I mean, build relationships on friendliness, link individuals to the communities that they are part of and listen to their concerns.
I am using ‘community’ in its widest sense here, this could be a team, department or organisation. If we frame our places of leading as communities of practice this enables us to link more clearly to what community means and, hence, provide a stable foundation for building impactful relationships.
If we do so, we can stay embedded in community ideals rather than watering down these ideals by trying to make them fit across numerous community sites.
This will be the challenge for Andy Burnham going forward – how might he retain the ‘Manchester-feel’ in his national leadership remit? My advice is to continue along the line he treads and keep the stories of community impact alive through nostalgia but be contained in this retrospective, be mindful of unwarranted and unsupported extrapolation. Leading a nation is leading a myriad of differing communities and these all need their own voice to be heard!
Gareth Edwards is Professor of Leadership and Community Studies in the College of Business and Law, University of the West of England, UK and a member of the Bristol Leadership and Change Centre (BLCC). His current interests are in the application of ideas on aesthetics and leadership, community, and dispersed theories of leadership. He also researches and writes on issues relating to leadership learning and development. He is Co-Editor-in-Chief of the journal Leadership – Leadership: Sage Journals.