Can Andy Burnham End Britain’s Revolving Door of Prime Ministers? His Policies, Challenges and What Comes Next

As England exit the World Cup, and the final is contested between Spain and Argentina on Sunday I wonder how any people watching it around the world realise that the very next day here in the UK we could well be welcoming yet another Prime Minister!
That is five Prime Ministers since the last World Cup just 4 years ago!

Boris Johnson (July 2019 – September 2022)
Liz Truss (September 2022 – October 2022)
Rishi Sunak (October 2022 – July 2024)
Keir Starmer (July 2024 -July 2026)
Andy Burnham (July 2026 – ? )

I find it incredible that politics in the Western World are in such turmoil.
Whether the people of the USA like it or not the world watches Trump’s every move while wondering how on earth anyone voted for someone many critics describe as authoritarian within a democratic country?
An increasingly negative review of him grows worldwide which unfortunately also then reflects on the USA as a whole! This is just one study that summarises this.
This in turn is having a massive effect on incoming tourism to the USA. People who would normally happily spend money visiting Las Vegas and Florida’s Disney Extravaganza for example are choosing to go elsewhere. There are many reports out there that attach research to this phenomenon, this is just one of them.
No doubt the tourism results for 2026 will be given a positive spin because they will include all the football fans who came to watch the World Cup, without which the downturn would be 6.5% year on year. This 6.5% downturn in U.S. international tourism is projected to inflict a $21 billion deficit on the U.S. economy in 2026, heavily straining local businesses, the job market, and international trade balances. Because overseas travellers spend an average of $4,000 per trip—eight times more than domestic tourists—their absence triggers a massive compounding slowdown.

I wonder if the world is looking at us, here in the UK in a similar way, perhaps asking the question “How many more PMs will they have before they actually get it right?”

Let me start by saying I am not politically aligned to any party. I vote in an election for the person I believe is the right person for that particular job and not because they belong to any specific party. This rhetoric, therefore, is written impartially.

So as the world watches on, Who exactly is Andy Burnham?

Andrew Burnham was born in Liverpool in 1970 to a working class family – his father, a British Telecom engineer, and his mother, a GP receptionist. This is not a man who was educated at a private school such as Eton, like so many Prime Ministers and leading politicians before him.
Educated at the local comprehensive school where he became known by “Andy” he did, however, aim high at a very early age achieving acceptance at none other than Cambridge University where he studied English.

His focus on politics began in his early 20’s from which he had a variety of posts before resigning as an MP in 2017 in order to contest the election for the first ever Mayor of Greater Manchester.
The Mayor of Greater Manchester is the directly elected leader of Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA). The role was created as part of English devolution, which means certain powers were transferred from national government to Greater Manchester so more decisions could be made locally.

 This is where his star began its real ascendancy.

Burnham won the contest with more than 60% of the vote and was re-elected by an even bigger margin in 2021 and again in 2024.

So what made him so successful?
Under his guidance the Greater Manchester Combined Authority founded the Bee Network. The centrepiece of this integrated transport scheme was the renationalisation of bus routes across Greater Manchester, as well as support to cap fares at £2 at a time when nationally they were rising.

Of course, transport wasn’t the only area where Burnham built his reputation, he also focused a lot on building “Brand Manchester”.
Greater Manchester (GM) was the UK’s fastest growing sub-regional economy in the period 2015-2023, growing at double the rate of the UK (GM: 3.1% per year; UK: 1.5%).
GM’s economy grew more quickly than the UK economy in 7 of the 9 years to 2023. This would indicate that he had his finger on the economic pulse so to speak.

He has earned a reputation as a politician who cares deeply about his roots, and has consistently and publicly reinforced it. He famously stood up to the Conservative Government, over what he felt was a weak and confusing support package during the COVID pandemic. This was what delivered him his title as “King of the North”.

However, even though Andy Burnham became one of England’s most high-profile metro mayors, governing Greater Manchester is very different from governing the UK.

As Mayor he was responsible for around three million people and a limited range of devolved powers.

A Prime Minister, by contrast, makes decisions affecting nearly 70 million people across taxation, defence, foreign policy, immigration and public finances.

What can we expect from Monday?
“Andy” will be thrust into making decisions immediately. he is giving the ascent of the King
On Monday he will:

Need to form a government
This means appointing the senior ministers, beginning with the Chancellor of the Exchequer (Treasury Secretary), Foreign Secretary, Home Secretary, and Defence Secretary.

Receive national security and intelligence briefings
Be briefed by senior civil servants, the Cabinet Secretary, the heads of the intelligence agencies (MI5, MI6 and GCHQ), and military officials.

He will receive updates on any ongoing national security threats, military operations, international crises, and classified intelligence.

Begin setting the government’s legislative and policy agenda
He will have to formulate his Cabinet of two dozen ministers, whilst also immediately overseeing more than 100 ministers across Government. He will then need to meet with at least the Cabinet to agree immediate priorities.

He will also need to start preparations for when Parliament returns from its summer recess on September 1st.

It seems like a very big step up to me so what can we expect?

Whilst no solid policies are, of course, yet forthcoming, Burnham has made several speeches both during his bi-election to return to being an MP and also since. He has talked about:

Devolution of Power:
Burnham has promised the biggest-ever “rebalancing of power” away from Whitehall in London, with English regions handed more control in areas including housing and transport by a new Parliamentary Unit based in Manchester.
The unit would be tasked with promoting “equivalent living conditions” across Britain, borrowing from an idea in the German constitution.

He also says he wants all parts of the UK to take “greater public control” of the water and energy sectors so this in turn could perhaps come under devolved control?

Housing:
Andy wants to see the biggest council house building programme “since the post-War period” – implying a large rise in rates of construction compared to recent years. His plan is to see higher density residential development in towns in order to protect more green spaces from residential building land.
This is a huge change to the current free-for-all building we see currently which is dominated by six major housebuilders, who control more than half of all private sector construction in England.

This project will be financed by using the whole £39 billion budget, already set for housing development in the next 10 years, being spent purely on social housing.
He has, quite rightly in my opinion, argued against using parts of the fund to subsidise “affordable” home ownership or market-rate housing. Instead, his approach prioritises direct public investment to create the largest generation of council houses, treating homes as a public good rather than a commodity.
I am definitely with him on this. A home is not a nice to have it’s a necessity for everyone!

This is a policy close to my heart given the current housing crisis we are experiencing where the six major house builders are making extortionate profits from building on our wonderful English countryside in order to meet social demand.
Currently each local district council dictates what percentage of homes built have to be social housing.
In District A, for example where this is one third it means:
For every 300 house built only 100 houses are social housing and thanks to the previous Conservative Government only 50% of these are actual council houses, the other 50% are sold as “shared ownership” where the tenant pays part mortgage and part rent. This type of housing is very rarely open to anyone on minimum wage because they don’t earn enough to get a shared ownership mortgage on their own.

So for every 300 houses currently built in District A , in this example, only 50 are council houses
This means for every 1000 people on a council house waiting list you need to build 6000 houses!
It is quite honestly ridiculous and needs to stop!

Social Care:
The UK’s adult social care system is widely considered to be in a state of chronic crisis. Local councils struggle with massive funding gaps, hundreds of thousands of people are stuck on waiting lists for assessments, and the system relies heavily on unpaid carers to function.
Andy Burnham has long supported the idea that social care should become a more universal system.
In a speech in 2023, he suggested this could be funded by replacing inheritance tax with a new “national care levy”. He has suggested everyone would pay this new tax, whilst “obviously the wealthiest would pay the most”.

Personal Taxes
Personally I think this is one of the more politically difficult balancing acts. People want better public services, but almost nobody wants higher taxes.

During his campaign to be re-elected as an MP, Burnham said he wanted to “have a proper look” at potentially raising the £12,570 starting threshold for income tax thus delivering more money into “the working person’s pocket” and lessening the tax implication on OAP pensions.
He has, also, previously argued the UK overtaxes work and undertaxes wealth, prompting speculation he could raise capital gains tax – paid on profits made when selling assets such as shares and property aside from a main home.

He has previously suggested that both council tax and stamp duty, a tax paid by homebuyers, could be replaced with a new tax on the value of land – an idea he has been advocating since as far back as 2010.

Welfare and Unemployment
His view is that we need to see a “fair and lasting” reduction to the UK’s welfare bill, amid rising spending on health and disability benefits in recent years.

Without planning to change the level of benefits payments, or how people qualify to receive them, he argues that the way forward is to reduce the amount of people claiming benefits.
He believes improving employment support and “in-work” mental health support will achieve this alongside ensuring that all 16 to 18-year-olds leave school with guaranteed work placements.

As of early 2026, there were over 1 million young people aged 16-24 in the UK who were not in education, employment, or training (NEET) of which 58% have never held a job!.
Of the 1 million, roughly 400,000 are actively classified as unemployed, while 613,000 are economically inactive (not working and not seeking work). 

I’m not surprised that studies show that up to 60% of 18-to-25-year-olds in the UK feel that politicians do not care about them. Furthermore, polling indicates that over 50% of young adults are dissatisfied with the current state of UK democracy, believing that political parties fail to speak directly to them or address their concerns.

Research by the UK Parliament, itself, indicates that the majority of young adults feel alienated from the political establishment. Many feel their priorities—such as housing affordability, the cost of living, and climate change—are consistently overlooked. 

It feels like the young people in the UK today have lost hope!
Can Andy Burnham restore that hope?

Immigration:

This is very much a “hot topic” here in the UK, frequently used by parties such as Reform UK to mobilise public opinion. Critics argue that this rhetoric can sometimes blur the line between legitimate debate over immigration policy and language that risks inflaming racial tensions and returning us to the “racial riots of the 1980’s”.
Like the Sunak government, Labour has reduced levels of immigration by tightening visa requirements. During his Makerfield campaign, Burnham said net migration “needs to fall further”, although he has not set a specific target.

Foreign Policy:
Andy Burnham has said he would like the UK to rejoin the EU within his lifetime, but he has insisted he does not want to “re-run the [2016] referendum now”.
Instead he has pledged to seek a “closer relationship” with European countries, and “consolidate the progress made” on existing negotiations with the EU.

He will have to hit the ground running in this sphere of politics as he will inherit a series of live negotiations on youth visas, food regulations and plans to relink the UK to the EU’s carbon pricing regime.

I’m not sure what Donald Trump will make of Andy Burnham because they honestly seem as if they come from “two completely different planets in terms of wealth and education” and that’s without delving into their political outlook.
All Burnham has said thus far is that he will be seeking a “good relationship” with the US, however he will also be willing to say “if we can’t agree with them”!

Final Thoughts:
Whatever happens over the coming months, Burnham will quickly discover that leading Greater Manchester and leading the United Kingdom are two very different challenges. Whether he becomes the Prime Minister who finally steadies British politics or simply another name on an increasingly long list remains to be seen. One thing is certain: the world will be watching.

What are your views on World politics? Are we in turmoil as I have said?
Do you read the news and involve yourself in the political situation in your country or do you find it easier to just remain in your own “bubble”?
Do you feel there is hope out there?