MANCHESTER, England — Andy Burnham, the man widely expected to become Britain’s next prime minister, is preparing to deliver a major speech Monday laying out a sweeping economic plan centered on shifting power away from London and toward local governments across the country.
Burnham’s office says the speech will present a 10-year vision for what he calls “good growth in every postcode” — a direct response to the long-standing concentration of wealth and political power in London and southern England.
Speaking in Manchester, where he spent nine years serving as mayor, Burnham is expected to announce plans to relocate part of his prime ministerial operation to the northwestern city. He also intends to expand the authority of regional mayors, giving them greater control over housing, welfare, and education policy.
His broader economic approach draws from his time leading Greater Manchester, where he worked to combine public and private investment to improve transportation, housing, and infrastructure. He hopes to apply that same model across the entire United Kingdom.
The speech is also expected to include pledges to create new industrial jobs, expand educational opportunities, and overhaul the country’s privatized water and energy utility systems, which have been widely criticized as inefficient and costly.
While Burnham earned considerable praise for his work revitalizing Manchester, he has been absent from national government for nearly two decades. Critics question whether his so-called “Manchesterism” approach can be successfully scaled up to a nationwide level.
His rise to power comes as current Prime Minister Keir Starmer prepares to step down. Starmer, who won a landslide election victory in July 2024 after announcing his own 10-year national transformation plan, is departing after just two years in office. His tenure was marked by a series of political missteps and poor judgment calls that damaged his standing with both his own party and the broader public.
Burnham secured a seat in Parliament through a special election on June 18 and was officially sworn in as a lawmaker on June 22 — the very same day Starmer announced his resignation, effective once a replacement is selected.
As the clear frontrunner in the Labour Party leadership contest, Burnham faces no declared challengers at this point. If that remains the case, he could be installed as prime minister as soon as July 20.
Despite being regarded as more personable than the reserved Starmer, Burnham will inherit many of the same difficult challenges — a sluggish economy, struggling public services, and a cost-of-living crisis. He will also be bound by Labour’s 2024 election promises, which included a commitment not to raise taxes on working people.
On the international front, Burnham will face pressure shared by all NATO member nations to significantly boost defense spending in response to growing Russian aggression and uncertainty about U.S. reliability as an ally. A long-awaited defense investment plan — which triggered the resignation of Defense Secretary John Healey on June 11 — is expected to be released ahead of a NATO summit in Turkey scheduled for July 7 and 8. Burnham’s government would be expected to honor whatever commitments are included in that plan.
Not everyone is impressed with Burnham’s pitch. Conservative Party Chairman Kevin Hollinrake dismissed the economic vision, saying: “Andy Burnham’s big idea is to shuffle power between politicians. Not fix the welfare system. Not cut the taxes strangling working families and British business. Not fund the defense our country desperately needs.”
