Andy Burnham is the mayor of Greater Manchester, a champion of "rolling back the 1980s" and an increasingly unashamed critic of Keir Starmer, the prime minister. He sided with Labour rebels against welfare cuts in 2025 and is widely regarded as a potential replacement for Sir Keir. Following Labour's drubbing in the May 2026 local elections he claimed to have a seat in Parliament ready for his return. He has complained about Britain being "in hock to the bond markets" and intimated support for carving defence spending out of any fiscal rules; gilt yields rose by nearly 0.2 percentage points on May 11th-12th 2026 alone. He preaches "Manchesterism", his creed of localism and business-friendly socialism. He is contesting a by-election in Makerfield, a former mining area outside Wigan, on June 18th 2026; his predecessor as MP, Josh Simons, stepped down explicitly so Mr Burnham could challenge Sir Keir. Mr Burnham was once bombastic about rejoining the EU but now dismisses the idea any time soon. On May 18th 2026 he ruled out any changes to Britain's fiscal rules if he becomes prime minister.
Mr Burnham was blocked from standing as an MP on the grounds that the election for his replacement as mayor would cost too much "during a cost-of-living crisis".
Mr Burnham's campaigning may have helped persuade the Treasury to concede a tourism tax for cities, an idea first proposed by a London finance commission convened by Sadiq Khan.
In 2023 Mr Burnham began to bring Greater Manchester's bus routes and fares back under public control—the first English city outside London to do so. The number of journeys climbed by 14% in the first year. Greater Manchester already runs a £2 fare cap.
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