Burnham to set out economic plan as Labour leadership race begins
The Greater Manchester mayor-turned-MP is the only declared candidate to replace Keir Starmer after the prime minister said he would resign.
By James Whitfield · Staff Writer
3 min read
Andy Burnham is due to set out his economic and devolution agenda in Manchester as he seeks to replace Keir Starmer as Labour leader and UK prime minister. AFP and Reuters reported that the speech will be Burnham’s first major policy address since Starmer announced last week that he would step down.
Burnham, who recently returned to Parliament after a decade away from Westminster, is the only declared candidate to succeed Starmer, according to AFP and Reuters. If no rival enters the contest, he could be in office by mid-July.
Starmer said he would resign two years after winning a large Labour majority, following a fall in his popularity. Burnham won the Makerfield by-election earlier this month with 54 percent of the vote and was sworn in as an MP on June 22, according to Getty Images caption information cited with the report.
Devolution at the centre of the pitch
Burnham will make the transfer of power to regions and local communities the central theme of Monday’s speech at a Manchester museum, his office said. The address is being presented as a bid to show how he would govern after building his national profile as mayor of Greater Manchester.
His office said Burnham will also outline a 10-year programme aimed at raising living standards through reindustrialisation, housing, infrastructure and changes to utilities. The plan is focused on changing how the UK is governed as well as who leads it, according to his team.
Labour Deputy Leader Lucy Powell told the BBC that Burnham wants “communities in every part of Britain to seize their own agenda.” Burnham has promoted an approach he calls “Manchesterism,” described in the report as business-friendly socialism that rejects trickle-down economics and neoliberalism.
According to AFP and Reuters, Burnham wants some government operations moved to Manchester and supports greater public control of transport, water and energy. He also backs reductions in business rates for pubs and music venues.
Fiscal rules under scrutiny
Burnham has sought to reassure financial markets by supporting the government’s existing borrowing limits, AFP and Reuters reported. Housing Secretary Steve Reed told Sky News that Burnham remains committed to the manifesto on which Labour won its majority under Starmer.
Reed said Burnham would keep Labour’s fiscal rules, including balancing day-to-day spending and reducing debt. Those commitments are likely to shape early assessments of how far Burnham would shift policy if he enters Downing Street.
The report said Burnham’s choice of finance minister would be watched closely for signs of how left-leaning his government might be. Burnham previously said the government should move beyond being “in hock to the bond markets,” but later said that comment had been misrepresented.
AFP and Reuters reported that any Burnham government would face tight fiscal conditions, with the UK economy under pressure from the effects of the war in Ukraine and the US-Israel war on Iran. If Burnham becomes prime minister, he would be the UK’s seventh premier in a decade.
United States President Donald Trump has called Burnham “extremely liberal” and said he was unlikely to open the North Sea to oil and gas drilling, according to the report.
This story draws on original reporting from Al Jazeera.