The applause had barely died down when Andy Burnham walked through the famous black door of No 10 – but within days the new prime minister had already set his agenda, ruling out an early general election and signalling a potential overhaul of the country’s council tax system.
Laura Kuenssberg, given unprecedented behind-the-scenes access to Burnham’s first week in power, described seeing a politician “as thoroughly delighted as Burnham, pride bursting out of his buttoned-up suit”. Staff lined the halls of Downing Street, and the Cabinet Room door was left ajar for him to walk straight in. In a sign of his different style, Burnham posted an Instagram video rating pub snacks with his new chancellor, John Healey, and shared pictures of the family dog, Axel, whom he described as having “angry little man energy”.
“Andy Burnham rules out early election and hints at major council tax reform in first week as PM”
But the new leader moved quickly to quash speculation about an early general election. In an exclusive BBC interview, Burnham explicitly dismissed the idea, saying: “I’m going to rule it out… I don’t think people want it.” He added that the majority of voters “voted for a manifesto” and he would “honour that manifesto” with parliamentary colleagues. “I just think what I most need to do is get Britain focused on getting the country back where it should be,” he said.
Burnham also raised the prospect of significant changes to council tax, warning of unfairness for homeowners in the South. He said former chancellor Rachel Reeves was “right to start” reforming the tax after she introduced a surcharge for higher-value homes, which critics dubbed a “mansion tax”. The prime minister argued that the tax, still based on 1991 property values, had become distorted: “People in some of the wealthiest parts of the country pay a smaller proportion in council tax than those in some of the poorest.”
Hinting at a more radical overhaul, Burnham told the BBC he saw “a big case for land and business and property tax to be changed”. He has a long history with a land value tax, proposing it in his first Labour leadership bid in 2010 as a way to abolish stamp duty, which he called “a tax on the aspirations of young people”. Campaign group Fairer Share, whose petition for a “proportional property tax” gathered more than 100,000 signatures, wants a flat rate of 0.48% on current property value.
Burnham’s first week was not without political friction. Baroness Harriet Harman urged him to “build bridges” with the Starmerite ministers he sacked during his reshuffle, including Darren Jones. And the satirist Martin Rowson marked the occasion with a cartoon in the Guardian.
As the prime minister settles into No 10 with his Manchester outpost, No 10 North, his appetite for social media and hands-on communication suggests a leader who wants to bring the public along for the ride. But the big question remains: how far will he go in reshaping the tax system – and who will pay the price?