Angela Rayner, the former deputy prime minister now back in cabinet as housing secretary, warned the BBC's Today programme on Friday: "We are on borrowed time if we don't get a move on." She was speaking at the end of Andy Burnham's first week in power – a week that has seen the new prime minister announce business rates, bus fares and a VAT cut on electricity, while assembling what Rayner calls "a pride of mayors" for a meeting of the National Economic Council at his new base, No10 North in Manchester.
Burnham claims the move represents "the biggest rebalancing of power our country has seen" and promises "the biggest changes in the last 40 years". But his early announcements have been piecemeal; a "10 year plan for Britain" is promised later this year. The early evidence, the BBC's political editor Chris Mason notes, points to a leader "more sharp and more nimble than his predecessor", but Burnham faces the same frustration that plagued Sir Keir Starmer: pulling levers and nothing happening.
“Labour MPs table compulsory voting amendment as Andy Burnham's first week in power sees low turnout debate reignited.”
Yet there is another lever Burnham may be considering. The third reading of the Representation of the People Bill – which would lower the voting age to 16 and tighten campaign finance rules – has been postponed until after the summer recess, prompting speculation that the prime minister might push the legislation further. Top of the amendment list is a call for a national commission on electoral reform, backed by nearly a third of MPs. More controversial are two amendments from Labour MPs Antonia Bance and Bell Ribeiro-Addy introducing a "compulsory duty to vote".
The case for compulsion is stark. In the 2024 general election, turnout was below 60 per cent – falling to 53 per cent when unregistered eligible voters are included, according to the Institute for Public Policy Research. By contrast, Australia, which introduced compulsory voting in 1924, enjoys turnout rates of 90 per cent. Low turnout is not evenly spread: the Constitutional Society's 2025 report, Universal Suffrage?, found turnout was 13 percentage points higher among white voters than ethnic minorities, 22 points higher among the wealthy, 34 points higher among older voters and 36 points higher among outright homeowners. "Low and unequal turnout can no longer be seen as merely a symptom of democratic malaise," the report warns, "but must now be understood as a contributing factor – one that warps the incentives of the political class, and contributes to skewed, inequitable and ineffectual policymaking."
The left is particularly affected: when voters stay home, progressive agendas lose out. Australia's recent budget, for example, introduced tax changes to make property less attractive to investors and cool the housing market – the kind of policy that only flies if wealthy homeowners do not dominate the electorate. Even some on the right accept the arguments, including the former Tory chancellor Jeremy Hunt, who has spoken in favour.
Burnham's opponents are recalibrating. The Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch, giving an al fresco speech on a rooftop in central London on Thursday, teased the new prime minister over his informal style – he "seems like a nice g…" – before a gust of wind cut her off. For Burnham, the question is whether compulsory voting becomes part of his promised transformation, or another lever that fails to move.