A long, hot summer is slowly drawing to a close. With it comes the approach of a new Parliamentary term – and Andy Burnham’s first Commons appearances as Prime Minister.
While the nation has withered under what has at times felt like a never-ending midnight sun, Burnham has been quick to use the quieter summer weeks to introduce himself, and his distinct political philosophy, to a British public he knows did not vote for him.
Rather than waiting for Parliament to return, Burnham has mixed highly visible, retail interventions with the beginnings of a much more ambitious attempt to reshape where power sits in Britain.
For businesses trying to understand the new Government, that second part matters most.
The cost-of-living Prime Minister
At the forefront of Burnham’s approach has been a relentless focus on the cost of living, tapping into long-simmering frustration with the price of everyday essentials and addressing a common concern about Starmer’s two years in office.
Burnham’s first week was therefore deliberately retail in nature, with a flurry of announcements removing VAT on domestic electricity, restoring the £2 bus fare cap and reallocating existing funding to tackle the scourge of rough sleeping.
None of these interventions are revolutionary. That is partly the point.
They are simple, tangible measures which allow Burnham to make a straightforward political argument to the public and demonstrate in a tangible manner that his new government is on their side.
The same instinct has extended to business policy, most visibly through further business rates relief for pubs, clubs and live music venues. These are businesses Burnham can present not simply as commercial enterprises, but as part of the fabric of communities. Given much of his political ethos is about the importance of “place”, this is not a surprise but shows a clear connection between his economic policies and his core messaging.
Naturally, his communications have followed the same pattern. A social media video featuring Burnham and Chancellor John Healey comparing pork scratchings and other bar snacks while discussing support for pubs reached millions of views. That is still something of a rarity for political communications, and the Number 10 comms team would have been celebrating the success of the relative ease at which Burnham’s approach is, so far, working.
There is a lesson for business in this new focus. Economic arguments alone will not be enough. This is a Government increasingly interested in what policies mean for household bills, high streets, jobs and individual communities. Make that argument, and you will have a far higher chance of getting the traction with Government Ministers and MPs.
Devolution days
Beyond the initial retail offerings, Burnham has begun sketching out the more fundamental parts of his political project.
Devolution is perhaps the clearest.
Drawing heavily on his experience in Greater Manchester, Burnham has made explicit his belief that Britain is too centralised, and that Whitehall itself is part of the problem.
His Government has promised significantly greater powers for mayoral authorities across housing, transport, skills and planning, alongside greater control over locally generated revenues and a new ‘local first’ approach to decision-making.
Mayors are also set to receive greater powers to intervene in strategically important planning applications, while the Government is seeking to give councils a much larger role in delivering its affordable housing programme.
For business, this could be one of the most consequential changes of the Burnham Government.
A Westminster-only engagement strategy may no longer be enough. Businesses operating in housing, infrastructure, transport, energy and regeneration will increasingly need to understand not only the priorities of Ministers, but those of mayors and strategic authorities across the country.
That creates opportunity, particularly where stronger local leadership can help unblock planning and infrastructure decisions. It also means a more complex political environment for national businesses to navigate. A well-structured engagement plan and developed stakeholder mapping will be integral in the months and years ahead.
Rewiring the state
The second major strand is Burnham’s willingness to question some of the assumptions which have governed Britain’s political economy for decades.
His opening speech in Downing Street was unusually direct. Britain, he argued, had centralised political power while privatising economic power, and now needed both “a new political model and a new economic model”.
Social care is an early example. Burnham has accelerated Baroness Casey’s work towards a longer-term settlement and recommitted the Government to the creation of a National Care Service. Speaking from the heart about his own family’s experience of the care system, Burnham again framed what could be considered a byzantine and technical reform very much in the everyday language and emotions voters understand. A clearly emotional Prime Minister speaking on ITV’s This Morning sofa about his plans again demonstrated a different political operator to his predecessor.
More broadly, his language and his first few policies points towards a Government increasingly willing to intervene where it believes markets are failing to deliver affordable or reliable essential services.
For businesses in regulated sectors, that is worth watching closely.
The debate is likely to move beyond simple questions of public versus private ownership towards affordability, accountability and the distribution of returns. Companies able to demonstrate that they are part of Burnham’s solution will be in a far stronger position than those seen simply as defending the status quo.
Burnham abroad
For a Prime Minister who has spent much of his political career focused on domestic policy, Burnham has also moved quickly to establish continuity – and his own authority – on the international stage.
Ukraine has provided the clearest example.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy was Burnham’s first international visitor as Prime Minister in July, with the two meeting at Portsmouth naval base to discuss military cooperation and battlefield innovation.
Burnham then chose Kyiv for his first overseas visit, travelling to Ukraine on Independence Day and co-chairing his first meeting of the Coalition of the Willing. The symbolism was deliberate. Notwithstanding the change of leadership in Westminster, British support for Ukraine would remain firm.
Beyond the symbolism, there was clear substance. The UK has agreed that MBDA can release classified information on British components of the SCALP long-range missile to support production in Ukraine, while the two countries have announced a new partnership around defence AI and battlefield technology.
It offers an early indication of Burnham’s approach to defence, combining conventional support for Britain’s alliances with a strong emphasis on technology, domestic industrial capacity and the economic opportunities flowing from higher defence investment. With a former Defence Secretary as Chancellor of the Exhequer, again this is not a surprise. Defence policy will remain a key pillar of Labour’s industrial strategy.
The same theme can be seen in discussions with Japan around the GCAP fighter programme and with European leaders on closer defence and security cooperation. Burnham has also been notably explicit about wanting a closer overall relationship with the EU.
For businesses in defence, aerospace, advanced manufacturing and dual-use technology, that creates an increasingly important intersection between foreign policy and industrial policy. Defence is not simply being treated as a security question, but as a potential engine for investment, innovation and supply-chain growth.
Challenges remain
Beyond the relative calm of summer, Parliament’s return brings with it a familiar and considerably less forgiving set of problems.
At the top of the Prime Minister’s in-tray is the Budget at the end of October. Burnham’s ambitions on devolution, social care and defence, alongside his laser focus on the cost of living, all come with a price tag.
Chancellor John Healey must therefore spend the coming weeks demonstrating delivery on Burnham’s priorities while reassuring markets that the sums still add up.
That is no easy feat.
The economic backdrop is already difficult, and Burnham himself has acknowledged the challenging fiscal outlook. His promise to provide greater certainty and support to business will soon collide with the need to raise revenue, restrain spending, or both.
The October Budget will therefore provide the first serious test of how Burnham’s political instincts translate into difficult choices.
For businesses, the temptation to treat the summer as little more than an extended political honeymoon should be resisted.
Burnham’s opening weeks have already told us quite a lot about the Government he wants to lead:
· It is interventionist where he believes markets are failing
· There is a clear impatience with Whitehall
· He is enthusiastic about devolving power
· It is more activist on defence and industrial strategy, and ultimately, they are intensely focused on policies which can be felt in people’s everyday lives
The detail is still to come. The Budget will be followed by the publication of the 10-Year Plan, and announcements are expected at the Party Conference in just over a months’ time. But the direction of travel is increasingly clear.
For business:
· Understanding how Burnham thinks
· Where power is moving
· Which arguments resonate
· How organisations can demonstrate their contribution to growth, communities and national resilience
… may prove just as important as understanding the individual policies themselves.
Westminster is about to return. The summer of Burnham may prove to have been the easy part.
Get in touch with our public policy team to understand what Burnham’s agenda could mean for your business.
