Andy Burnham’s high-profile return to the House of Commons following his impressive victory at the Makerfield by-election (18 June 2026), and Keir Starmer’s decision to stand down as PM shortly afterwards, enabled the ex-mayor of Greater Manchester to become the new Labour Party leader on 17 July and the new UK PM on 20 July. Consequently, much media attention has focused on Burnham’s core political beliefs – sometimes referred to as ‘Burnhamism’ or ‘Manchesterism’ – and how these are likely to shape his premiership. This piece examines Burnham’s key political views with the caveat that at least some of these may have to be modified in office as they come into contact with the actual social, economic and political condition of the UK in the mid-2020s. Burnham views himself as a democratic socialist on the ‘soft left’ of the Labour party (a faction which includes other prominent figures such as Ed Miliband, Angela Rayner and Lisa Nandy) who promotes regional devolution, public ownership and ‘business-friendly socialism’. His core political positions are set out below.

1. Devolution

Burnham regards the UK as one of the ‘most overcentralized countries in the world’ and wants to replace the Westminster-centric model with a more devolved political framework through the ‘biggest rebalancing of power’ in the UK’s history. This would entail (1) giving the English regions more control over key areas such as housing, transport, education and utilities, a process overseen by a new No. 10 unit based in Manchester, and (2) extending the current devolution arrangements in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland to take devolved power ‘deeper down’ into communities.

2. Public ownership

He has also indicated that he wants the UK to take ‘greater public control’ of the utilities (water and energy) in line with a government 10-year plan to reduce costs. His basic model for this, and for a state-controlled transport system, appears to be the Greater Manchester bus network – a scheme where private companies bid for franchises to run bus services in the area but the local authorities determine timetables, fares and routes. Burnham has emphasized that this will not automatically result in the complete nationalization of the utilities (which would be very expensive) but he does favour direct public ownership of the financially ailing Thames Water company.

3. Proportional representation

Burnham sees proportional representation (PR) as a vitally necessary reform to (1) change the polarized political culture in Westminster (2) avoid overwhelming single-party control based on minority support, and (3) reflect the reality of the UK’s multiparty politics. He has also stated that PR should become a formal commitment in Labour’s manifesto rather than the subject of a standalone national referendum. His endorsement of PR was strongly influenced by his experience of a non-first-past-the-post electoral system when he was the mayor of Greater Manchester.

4. Housing and social care

Burnham has promised to undertake ‘the biggest council house building programme since the post-war period’, using vacant public land to keep costs in check. This reflects his belief that affordable social housing is both a basic human right and a driver of economic growth. Such a project would presumably aim to build around 100,000-150,000 homes annually and is to be funded by a 10-year budget amounting to £39 billion. He also champions an NHS-style universal social care system which could be funded by replacing inheritance tax with a progressive ‘national care levy’. Although he has not yet gone into detail about how such a scheme would be implemented, the Health Foundation think tank estimates that such a social care model would require approximately £17 billion in extra funding by 2035-36.

5. Taxation

His general position on taxation is that the UK overtaxes work and under-taxes wealth, leading to conjecture that he may be planning to increase capital gains tax on the profits made when assets (such as shares and property) are sold. He has said that it is time to consider raising the threshold (£12,570) at which income tax becomes payable and has promised to honour Labour’s 2024 election pledge not to increase the main rates of income tax, VAT or national insurance. It is also known that he favours a tax on the value of land to replace council tax and stamp duty.

6. Welfare and employment

Without going into specific detail regarding benefit reform, Burnham has called for a ‘fair and lasting’ lowering of the UK’s welfare bill, particularly the costs of health and disability benefits. Rejecting arbitrary, short-term cuts and crisis management of welfare, he has advocated a preventative approach to reduce the number of people claiming benefits by boosting localized employment support and access to mental health services at work. As part of this plan, Burnham intends to devolve control of employment support and welfare to local councils and mayors to deliver welfare services more effectively.

7. Immigration

Burnham has moved towards tougher immigration controls and supports strict border management. When campaigning in Makerfield, Burnham argued that net migration ‘needs to fall further’ but did not give a specific number or level as the desired target. He also backed the ‘broad thrust’ of the immigration plans to tighten visa requirements put forward by Shabana Mahmood, the Home Secretary, earlier in 2026. However, he did call for the Labour government to consider carefully the potential consequences of proposals to extend the time foreign nationals living in the UK would have to wait before qualifying for permanent residence.

8. Business policy

In this area, Burnham has maintained that two key priorities are (1) to safeguard a ‘sovereign manufacturing’ capability in sectors such as energy, farming, steel and defence, and (2) make it easier for UK firms to win government contracts. In June 2026, Burnham also promised to cut business rates by 20 percent for music venues and pubs, with the shortfall being recouped by imposing higher taxes on warehouses used by online retailers. In addition, he has indicated that he wants to raise the business rate threshold, effectively ensuring that smaller shops do not have to pay. Finally, he has expressed sympathy for smaller businesses’ criticisms of the national insurance increase introduced in 2025 but has not explicitly stated if or how he would tackle this.

9. Foreign policy and defence

As many commentators have noted, Burnham does not have previous experience of international affairs. Nevertheless, he has given some indication of his thinking on foreign and defence issues. On defence, he has said that he will retain the UK’s commitment to NATO and the nuclear deterrent and upgrade the country’s military capability but the latter currently faces a funding shortfall of £4.7 billion. Regarding the EU, he hopes the UK will rejoin within his lifetime but has no plans to ‘re-run the referendum now’. Nevertheless, he wants to work more closely with the EU on issues such as defence, illegal migration, economic security, anti-terrorism and online disinformation. Moreover, he is known to support a two-state solution in the Middle East and has called for a ceasefire in Gaza and the formal recognition of a Palestinian state. His approach to a Trump-led US is for the UK to attempt to forge a ‘good relationship’ but to be candid ‘if we can’t agree with them’.

Taken together, Burham’s views, if implemented, would bring radical change to the UK by (1) rejecting the traditional centralised, elitist, two-party Westminster model (2) creating a more devolved UK, based electorally on proportional representation, and (3) taking bigger steps to counter regional and social inequalities. As the new PM, it will be interesting to see if Burnhamism can make a significant impact.