Andy Burnham wants to quickly tackle important issues as the new Prime Minister.Image: keystone
analysis
Andy Burnham will take office as British Prime Minister next Monday. He wants to strengthen the purchasing power of the British, but the country’s problems are far greater.
July 15, 2026, 7:35 p.mJuly 15, 2026, 7:35 p.m
Keir Starmer is on a farewell tour. Last week he took part in the NATO summit in Ankara, and he was just in Paris to speak with the “Coalition of the Willing”. to consolidate support for Ukraine and to celebrate the French national holiday. But now his days as British Prime Minister are definitely numbered.
Next Monday, the hapless Starmer will vacate the official residence at No. 10 Downing Street in London for his successor Andy Burnham. His appointment is a formality. On Monday, the former mayor of the greater Manchester region received an online test vote 349 out of 403 votes for the Labor group in the House of Commons.
Andy Burnham takes a selfie with the Labor group in the House of Commons, London.Image: keystone
This makes it mathematically impossible for potential challengers to obtain the necessary 81 MP votes for an application. The Labor Party is therefore spared a power struggle. Burnham is expected to take over the party leadership on Friday and will officially receive the order to form a government from King Charles on Monday.
Boost the economy
Then he has to set up his cabinet. The focus is on the controversial Finance Minister and Starmer confidant Rachel Reeves. Her departure is almost certain. Acted as a successor the previous Interior Minister Shabana Mahmoodreports the Financial Times. Burnham will not comment on this until Monday, according to those close to him.
The task for the new head of government is gigantic. He must stimulate the British economy, which has been struggling since the financial crisis almost 20 years ago never really got up to speed again and was further weakened by leaving the EU. To do this, he has to create trust, something the dry bureaucrat Keir Starmer never really managed to do.
Ambitious economic plan
The 56-year-old Andy Burnham is more charismatic and closer to the people and therefore has better qualifications. The “King of the North”, as he is called half mockingly and half admiringly in reference to “Game of Thrones”, announced that he wanted to strengthen the neglected regions and partially rule them from Manchester.
Miatta Fahnbulleh (r.) developed Andy Burnham’s economic plan.Image: keystone
According to the Financial Times, an economic plan by Labor MP and economist Miatta Fahnbulleh, an adviser to the new prime minister, contains several goals: which the government should address “immediately”.: Strengthening purchasing power, aid for SMEs and inner cities, more housing construction and state control over public services.
“More money in your pocket”
Like Burnham, Fahnbulleh belongs to the Labor left, but her plan also appears to be popular with the pro-business right wing of the party. A main goal is for people to have “more money in their pockets”. “The voters say they want this, and it’s high time we listened to them,” a Burnham colleague told the Financial Times.
Is that enough? Martin Wolf, co-editor and chief economist of the Wirtschaftsblatt, is skeptical. After two decades of extensive stagnation, sustainable economic growth is the “top priority”. It is the necessary condition for higher living standards and the financing of public servicesWolf wrote in an editorial.
Fiscal discipline
It is a huge challenge for Burnham, especially since the financial flexibility is limited by the high national debt. In an interview, the future prime minister assured that he wanted to adhere to the fiscal discipline of the Starmer government and neither take on more debt nor substantially increase taxes.
For Martin Wolf it is clear that there will be no quick successes. By far the biggest challenge for Andy Burnham is to give people hope, “even though times will remain tough for the time being.” The fact that the major opposition parties are currently preoccupied with themselves could help him.
Farage in trouble
The Conservative Tories continue to suffer from the image of a party that caused Brexit and “destroyed” public services – especially healthcare. And Nigel Farage, the head of the right-wing populist Reform UK, is facing accusations that Not having declared donations and donations amounting to millions.
Last week Farage took flight. He announced his resignation from the House of Commons and his re-candidacy in the by-election in Clacton, southern England. The other parties see this as a PR stunt and are boycotting the election on August 13th. Only the slapstick candidate Count Binface runs against Farage.
Visible third-country immigration
Nigel Farage is also in trouble because of his former colleague Rupert Lowe. He founded the radical right-wing party Restore Britain, which creates massive anti-migrant sentiment. The wrangling on the right gives Labor and Andy Burnham some breathing room, even if the next general election is not scheduled for 2029.
Rupert Lowe and his radical right-wing Restore Britain party are stirring up anti-migrant sentiment.Image: keystone
The agitation against migration seems bizarre anyway. In the last two weeks I was on holiday in England and on the Channel island of Jersey (which is not part of the United Kingdom under international law) and was confronted with employees from Asia or Africa in hotels and shops. It is the visible third country immigration after Brexit.
A country worth living in
It also shows that the British economy is not all bad, although low productivity is a notorious problem. In the last ten years, total factor productivity – a measure of the efficiency and innovative strength of an economy – has been in negative territory, writes Martin Wolf in the Financial Times.
Like much of Europe, Great Britain is currently suffering from drought. I have never seen the otherwise green and wet island so dry. But the kingdom is still a livable country that has developed enormously in the 50 or so years since my first visit. Now Andy Burnham “just” has to set the right course.