Needed: A fundamental transformation in Labour politics

Andy Burnham, who will replace Sir Keir Starmer as prime minister, has promised to take a different approach. In the lead-up to the Labour leadership race, where he was the sole candidate, Burnham vowed in his first address from Downing Street to “end rough sleeping in our country”. Speaking after taking over as prime minister, he vowed to “honour our commitments on defence to our international partners”, but did not say how soon he would meet them, nor how they would be paid for.

Disastrous local and regional election results in May heaped further pressure on Starmer, which became impossible to withstand after Burnham won a parliamentary by-election on 18 June, allowing him to run for leader. Burnham, regularly seen in his trademark dark T-shirt and casual jacket, has secured the backing of 379 of Labour’s 403 MPs, with no one mustering the 81 nominations required to challenge him.

But he will face the same unenviable challenges that beset Starmer, namely a tepid economy, high government borrowing costs, and irregular migrants arriving in small boats. The crucial reason Sir Keir has left office is that he lost the confidence of his own MPs. The enormous majority he won in the 2024 general election was largely squandered: his attempts to force through contentious policies, such as cuts to benefits, through coercion rather than persuasion resulted in embarrassing climbdowns.

Not to forget, Starmer faced unpredictable energy prices due to the US-Iran war and a volatile American president in Donald Trump. Being a strong doer, Andy openly argues that Britain needs a new economic model, not just tweaks. By contrast, Sir Keir squandered the political capital he had at astonishing speed with a series of U-turns and reinventions that voters hated.

Starmer returned Labour to power after 14 years in opposition in July 2024 with a landslide victory over the Conservatives, who had churned through five prime ministers in the tumult unleashed by the 2016 Brexit referendum.

Back to Andy, his most striking decision is not to make Ed Miliband chancellor but instead to appoint him foreign secretary. Can a stagnant economy now raise its head above the parapet and witness a shift toward devolution and a new economic model, following a 10-year national renewal plan aimed at ending a decade of instability? Britain (like Malta) certainly needs a “circuit breaker” moment, resulting in the biggest changes in 40 years.

Miliband, as foreign secretary, is seen in Brussels as more open to deeper EU alignment than Starmer, though not to rejoining. By contrast, Andy represents a shift from managerialism to transformation, from centralisation to devolution, and from caution to long-term structural change.

His popularity might be equally short-lived; however, the data suggest that the new Labour leader could build a more enduring electoral base by uniting Britain’s fragmented centre-left voters.

Later this week, he is expected to change the government’s stance on oil and gas exploitation, with a new energy secretary in place. As expected, Andy also promised to do something about the cost of living, with more detail on the “breathing space” he is offering hard-pressed families. By extending Manchester’s £2 bus fare cap, this would be a tangible step, different from the £3 cap under Starmer and Chancellor Rachel Reeves.

With energy prices rising again, there may be action to support commuters facing higher energy costs. Andy is lovingly nicknamed the “King of the North” for winning three successive elections to the Greater Manchester mayoralty, and his flagship idea is devolving powers to other cities to fire up Britain’s economy, including setting up a “Number 10 North” office.

One cannot underestimate his drive for change. In fact, he is reported as saying, “…if we want an economy and a country that works for all people and places… then it requires a new path to the one we’ve been on for the last 40 years”.

But such a monumental task requires boosting the construction of public housing and trying to resolve the homelessness crisis by pumping adequate resources into social care. Other spectacular changes include a new 10-year plan for Britain – to be unveiled later this year – and building a new economy, putting “life’s essentials back under public control”.

But he argues that people need “breathing space now”. Most feel that solutions need to be found to tackle the cost of living.

Other changes he promised included changing the education system to help young people into work, building more council homes, and honouring commitments to fund defence while sticking to the UK’s spending and debt rules.

One of Burnham’s poignant tasks is to instruct Whitehall officials on what to do if the country comes under nuclear attack and the government is incapacitated. That is one reason for the resignation last month of John Healey, the defence secretary, who thought the proposed defence investment plan was inadequate to meet the threats and the loose commitment to spend 3.5% of GDP on defence by 2035.

Finally, let us wish Burnham success as he embarks on the challenging journey of restoring stability and prosperity to his country’s struggling economy.