Andy Burnham promised nothing less than “the most significant change moment in our politics for 40 years” in his first speech as Labour leader – yet even as he declared “I have a plan”, the details of how he will deliver that transformation remain frustratingly out of reach.
Burnham, who becomes prime minister on Monday after a formal party coronation, used the address to rail against “four decades of neoliberalism” that he said had damaged traditional working-class communities. He vowed to banish factionalism from Labour and decentralise power, starting with relocating part of No 10 to Manchester. But as Peter Walker, senior political correspondent for the Guardian, noted, “even after half an hour of dense rhetoric, it is still not especially clear what this is.”
“Burnham promises biggest change in 40 years but details remain unclear as he mulls energy cuts and faces reform pressure.”
One area where Burnham’s team is visibly working is energy. The incoming PM is examining radical proposals drawn up by the thinktank Nesta that could cut household bills by £130 a year and make running a heat pump cheaper than a gas boiler. The plan would change how gas standing charges are levied and remove policy levies from bills at a cost of £3.2bn a year to the taxpayer, plus a one-off £2.7bn to wipe out consumer electricity debt. Andrew Sissons, Nesta’s sustainable future director, called it “immediate financial relief for the majority of UK households.” The cost would have to be met in the new chancellor’s first budget this autumn – potentially through tax rises.
But Burnham has yet to name his chancellor, or any of his top team, a delay that has prompted some Labour MPs to mutter about indecision. Asked who would occupy the top jobs, Burnham insisted he had made no final decisions; an announcement is expected on Monday.
The speech itself showcased Burnham’s oratorical skill – “a much, much better orator than the man he replaces,” according to the Guardian’s analysis – and a willingness to borrow from populism, albeit infused with togetherness rather than division. He made numerous references to football and laments about deindustrialisation that echoed Reform themes, before closing with a line that would not have been out of place from the Green Party: “That’s my mission as your new leader, to bring back hope.”
Meanwhile, pressure is already building on Burnham over electoral reform. During the Makerfield by-election campaign he pledged: “I am committed to proportional representation.” More than a quarter of Labour MPs (96) recently backed an amendment calling for a national commission on electoral reform, and the incoming prime minister will face immediate questions about how quickly he will act.
For a man who has set his premiership the test of representing “the biggest change of direction in British politics for four decades”, the gap between ambition and delivery remains vast – and the clock is ticking.