Andy Burnham is officially the new leader of the Labour Party after running the ‘contest’ completely unopposed. To mark the occasion, a Survation poll has pegged Labour and Reform in joint lead for popularity across the country, tied at 24%. The sudden jump in the polls owed itself to the combined effect of Labour’s increased popularity following Starmer’s resignation. Plus, Reform’s slump after scandal-struck Nigel Farage quit his seat in Clacton-on-Sea. The former Manchester mayor turned Makerfield MP secured the backing of 379 of the Parliamentary Labour Party’s (PLP) 403 MPs. In his inaugural speech as prime minister in-waiting, Burnham hit a…