Andy Burnham stood outside Downing Street on Monday and called for a "new national sense of unity, of common purpose and positivity" — but as he enters Number 10, the country he inherits is more fractured than at any point in decades.
Burnham, the newly sworn-in Labour Prime Minister, took office after winning the Makerfield by-election in July and then standing unopposed for the Labour leadership following Sir Keir Starmer's resignation. In his first speech as PM, he acknowledged past governments had "not been good enough" and vowed to be a "circuit-breaker for Britain", promising "the biggest changes in the last 40 years" — including a new political and economic model.
“Andy Burnham becomes UK PM vowing unity and big changes; explainer on his plan and the divisions he faces.”
But uniting Britain is no small task. For decades, the UK's defining split was social class — what job you had, how you spoke, when you ate dinner, even how you voted. That is now far more complicated, with a decline in traditional working-class jobs and a big rise in young people going to university. A commission co-chaired by former Home Secretary Sir Sajid Javid warned last year that "the bonds that hold society together — civic participation, and a shared sense of belonging — are under growing pressure."
Burnham himself seems to recognise the scale of the challenge. Since announcing his run for Parliament, he has repeatedly urged Britons to forget party labels or factional identities and unite around pride in their local area. "Place first, not party first," he says. His pitch is that if Labour fails to deliver, British politics is in danger of following the United States and electing "the most right-wing government it has ever seen", as he told POLITICO.
For UK readers, the stakes are immediate. Burnham's first major test may be Thames Water: a group of lenders is reportedly plotting a multibillion-pound legal battle if the government forcibly nationalises Britain's biggest water company. How he handles that — and other pressing issues — will signal whether his unity message is more than rhetoric.
Q: Who is Andy Burnham? Andy Burnham is a Labour politician who became Prime Minister in 2026 after winning the Makerfield by-election and succeeding Sir Keir Starmer unopposed. He previously served as Mayor of Greater Manchester and has long argued for devolution and local pride.
Q: What does 'place first, not party first' mean? It's Burnham's slogan for moving beyond traditional party loyalties and focusing on what local communities need. He believes that pride in your area can be a stronger unifying force than political affiliation.
Q: Why is Britain divided? The old class-based divides have faded but new ones have emerged — over Brexit, culture wars and economic inequality. A 2023 commission warned that civic participation and shared belonging are under growing pressure, with many feeling disconnected from national politics.
What happens next is uncertain. Burnham has promised to scrap Starmer's digital ID plan and bring forward a new economic model. But with Thames Water lenders preparing a legal fight and the country still deeply polarised, his "circuit-breaker" moment will need more than words. Evan Davis, presenter of BBC Radio 4's Common Ground, has spent a month travelling the UK exploring the divisions Burnham now has to heal. Whether there is "any common ground left" remains to be seen.