Andy Burnham is preparing to put the nationalisation of water and energy at the centre of his bid for prime minister, according to allies who say the Greater Manchester mayor is “completely serious” about taking over the “essentials of life”. The move would be one of the biggest transfers of ownership since the privatisations of the 1980s, but critics warn it could leave the public on the hook for billions of pounds in infrastructure costs.
A small group of close associates has been collating ideas for government, including Josh Simons, the outgoing Makerfield MP, and Miatta Fahnbulleh, the former energy minister. Neither would comment, though friends of Fahnbulleh said she is doing her own policy thinking that Burnham could draw on. Other contributors include John Wrathmell, Labour’s former head of economic policy, JP Spencer of the ThinkLabour thinktank, and Tom Whitney, an adviser to the transport secretary.
“Andy Burnham's allies say he is serious about bringing water and energy into public control if he becomes PM.”
At the heart of the plan is a proposal to bring utilities back under public control, starting with the stricken Thames Water. The agenda would also extend to the national energy grid, government procurement regulation and rent prices, according to those briefed. Burnham has said he wants “the essentials of life being run primarily for the public interest, not for the private interests”, but has not spelled out what that would mean on a national scale.
One Burnham ally told the Guardian: “When Andy says he wants the public to have control over ‘the essentials of life’, we should believe him. He is completely serious.” A spokesperson for Burnham declined to comment further on his policy plans.
The push comes as Labour figures grow increasingly confident of victory in next week’s Makerfield byelection, where Burnham is standing as the party’s candidate. While he spends his days knocking on doors, his team has been working behind the scenes to turn his political vision into concrete policies. The project, described as a decade-long effort, could reshape the UK’s economic landscape — but the unanswered question of who will pay for it looms large.