Labour enjoyed making him sound like a Tory. But unlike them, he grasps that there can be no return to a pre-austerity past.
In casting himself as the scaremonger-in-chief Burnham is proving utterly shameless.
His recent statement on unwell children and medical attention is at odds with the recommendation to call your GP Surgery or NHS 111.
Just as Labour refused to accept the problems of poor care in England before, they stick their heads in the sand about poor care in Labour-controlled Wales today.
It’s highly unlikely he’ll be unseated – instead, he’ll limp on to May. We must use that time wisely, not rest on our laurels.
In the aftermath of an underwhelming conference, here are the glaring questions for the Opposition to answer.
Labour’s health policy is heavy on rhetoric and light on policy detail.
The awkward slogan, the patchy policy, the endless anecdotes – it was third time unlucky for the Labour leader.
Provided, of course, that there aren’t good clinical or personal reasons for a delay. This is the new ambition that I’m setting for the NHS today.
When it comes to the NHS, the Labour leader enjoys making promises: to tear up Coalition policy, to reduce waiting times, to somehow find the money… but can he deliver?
Privatisation? It was Labour that third sector and private companies into the health service supply chain in the first place.