Andy Burnham’s premiership begins: can Manchester’s model fix Britain?

Andy Burnham will be appointed prime minister on Monday morning, ending Keir Starmer’s brief tenure and marking the first time a sitting mayor has ascended directly to Downing Street. The transition, confirmed by Buckingham Palace on Thursday, follows Burnham’s decisive victory in Labour’s internal leadership contest, triggered by Starmer’s resignation after the party’s underwhelming performance in the July general election. At 57, Burnham inherits a country grappling with stagnant growth, regional inequality, and a cost-of-living crisis that has eroded public trust in Westminster. His pitch is simple: replicate the “Manchester model” of devolution across the UK. But the question looms: can a strategy that worked for one city be scaled to an entire nation?

The Manchester experiment: what Burnham built

Since becoming Greater Manchester’s mayor in 2017, Burnham has positioned himself as the architect of England’s most ambitious devolution project. Under his leadership, the city-region secured control over transport, housing, and skills funding, creating a single pot of £4.2bn over five years—far exceeding the powers granted to other combined authorities. The results are tangible: Manchester’s tram network has expanded by 60% since 2017, and the city’s employment rate now outpaces the national average by three percentage points. Perhaps most significantly, Burnham’s administration has halved rough sleeping in the city centre through the “A Bed Every Night” scheme, a policy he has vowed to roll out nationally.

Yet the model is not without critics. Business leaders in Manchester argue that the mayor’s focus on social housing has stifled commercial development, while neighbouring authorities, like Liverpool and Leeds, have accused Burnham of hoarding power. “Devolution in England has been a patchwork, not a tapestry,” said a senior Whitehall official, speaking on condition of anonymity. “Burnham’s success in Manchester relied on a unique alignment of political will, local identity, and economic geography. Replicating that in, say, Cornwall or County Durham is a different proposition entirely.”

The cabinet puzzle: who gets the keys to power?

Burnham’s first task on Monday will be assembling his cabinet—a process complicated by Labour’s narrow majority in the Commons and the party’s internal factions. The Guardian reports that Burnham is considering a mix of loyalists and outsiders, with Angela Rayner, his deputy mayor, tipped for chancellor, and Yvette Cooper, the former home secretary, eyed for foreign secretary. However, Cooper’s recent criticisms of Burnham’s devolution plans—she described them as “a recipe for Balkanisation”—could scupper her chances.

One wildcard is Burnham’s relationship with the trade unions. While he has cultivated strong ties with Unite and the GMB, his refusal to commit to repealing the Conservative government’s anti-strike laws has alienated some on the left. “Burnham talks a good game on workers’ rights, but his record in Manchester is more pragmatic than progressive,” said a senior union official. “If he wants to avoid a backbench rebellion, he’ll need to offer more than warm words.”

The data privacy storm: BrewDog’s founder and the limits of crowdfunding

As Burnham prepares to take office, a separate controversy is unfolding in the corporate world, offering a glimpse into the challenges his government may face. James Watt, the co-founder of BrewDog, is under investigation by the UK’s Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) after complaints that he used personal data from former crowdfunding investors to solicit support for his bid to buy back the company. BrewDog’s 2026 sale to the US firm Tilray rendered the shares of its 200,000 “equity punks” worthless, sparking outrage among small investors. Watt’s emails, seen by the Guardian, invited them to join his buy-back campaign, prompting accusations of data misuse.

The case highlights the regulatory gaps in crowdfunding, a sector that has grown rapidly in the UK but remains lightly supervised. “This is a wake-up call for the ICO,” said a data privacy lawyer. “If a high-profile founder like Watt can flout the rules with impunity, what does that say about protections for ordinary investors?” For Burnham, the scandal could become a test case for his government’s approach to corporate accountability—a theme he has emphasised in his devolution plans but has yet to address at a national level.

What’s next: the devolution gamble

Burnham’s premiership will be defined by his ability to translate Manchester’s devolution successes into national policy. His first major test comes in September, when he is expected to introduce a Devolution Bill, granting combined authorities in England greater control over transport, housing, and economic development. The bill is likely to face opposition from Conservative MPs, who argue that it will create a “postcode lottery” in public services, and from some Labour backbenchers, who fear it could weaken the party’s centralised control.

Internationally, Burnham’s foreign policy remains an unknown quantity. While he has been vocal about the need for closer ties with the EU, his stance on Ukraine and NATO is less clear. His first overseas trip, scheduled for late July, will be to Berlin, where he is expected to meet German chancellor Olaf Scholz to discuss post-Brexit trade relations. “Burnham is a pragmatist, not an ideologue,” said a former Labour adviser. “He’ll prioritise economic growth over grand gestures, but that could leave him vulnerable to accusations of lacking a global vision.”

One thing is certain: Burnham’s premiership will be unlike any other in modern British history. He is the first prime minister to come from outside the Westminster bubble in decades, and his focus on devolution represents a fundamental shift in how the UK is governed. Whether that shift will heal the country’s divisions or deepen them remains to be seen. For now, the nation watches—and waits.