When I first met Andy Burnham MP at the Methodist Central Hall, Westminster, in 2010, where I was later to have a University graduation, he wasn’t as I expected him to be.

He was there for the leadership debate for Labour’s leader. And I remember thinking what a good idea a National Care Service would be.

I have now met Andy on several occasions, and he always waves and says hello. But it’s hard to describe the quality he has to somebody who’s never met him.

He has exactly the same quality as HM The Queen, whom I remember meeting in 1987. I had just been awarded a scholarship to Westminster School, and her husband asked me, “So tell me Shibley, what do you spend my wife’s money on? I bet you it’s booze, fags and wild women.”

The quality I mean is that the Queen has a real ability, despite her status, to make you feel completely at ease. Andy Burnham has this quality too. The thing you end up being struck by is his considerable gravitas.

Having met him, I’ve tuned into this in how he deals with TV interviews or shows such as Question Time. He speaks as somebody who knows the brief backwards, and who doesn’t need to say a lot to impress people.

You get this feeling when you hear a report that Sir Bruce Keogh has apologised to him for the alleged smear attacks. You get this feeling with Sir Andrew Dilnot writes to Andy over the latest statistics screw up.

But I concede it must be driving the Conservative Party potty. The Conservatives trump card is there is a groundswell of opinion that Labour ‘crashed the economy’. While not true, it’s been an opinion which has been hard to shift.

I don’t doubt the NHS will be at least number 2 on the list of factors affecting most people’s voting intentions, but opinions tend to divide amongst people who’ve experienced the NHS and those who haven’t.

There are people who’ve had a terrible time which they will never forget. At another end of the spectrum, there are some people who’ve had a positive experience, but think perhaps ‘they’ve been one of the lucky ones’.

So how do you solve a problem like Andy if you’re a Conservative? Extremely tricky, as Andy Burnham by a long margin is one of the most popular members of the Shadow Cabinet.

Whilst his speech in Manchester was a litany of the current Government’s failings, and the usual critics of Labour piped up to say “what about PFI?” and all that, Andy does not have to say much to impress further people who believe in him.

There’s a group of people who feel that they can never vote for Labour ever again, due to where Labour has taken them in the past. But it’s not at all clear how they will vote, given that the most likely outcome is that Labour will be the largest party at least.

There are people in other NHS campaign groups who really are not convinced that Labour ‘mean it’, and not nearly going enough to address their complaints about the NHS. But they will need at some stage to collaborate with Andy Burnham, not compete with him, if they wish to go anywhere.

Andy Burnham said today, “By starting to bring social care into the NHS, we will build a health service for the whole person.” One suspects that Burnham will have to bring in a person-centred approach, encouraging professional communication between different disciplines looking after a person with, say, dementia, but not go anywhere near personal budgets which have turned out to be a poisoned chalice.

And one of his examples was particularly telling.

“So what happened? The trust launched a private treatment service for varicose veins – using NHS facilities – as they were permitted to do under the new freedom to earn up to half of their income from treating private patients.”

Nye Bevan is possibly the most outstanding Secretary of State for Health which the Labour Party has ever had.

In 1951, Bevan was moved to become minister of labour. Shortly afterwards he resigned from the government in protest at the introduction of prescription charges for dental care and spectacles.

I complete understand the staunch skepticism that Labour is any different to how they used to be under Blair, with Hewitt and Milburn as the Secretary of States for Health.

Lynton Crosby has advised the Conservatives that they should play ‘on their side of the pitch’.

Fine – and it could be that many voters are still concerned about the economy.

But as Carville himself said, “It’s the economy stupid, but don’t forget about healthcare.”