Andy Burnham will use his first speech as Labour leader to declare that “Britain took a series of wrong turns in the 1980s” and promise to unpick the economic settlement of Margaret Thatcher, in a direct repudiation of the legacy of both the former Conservative prime minister and his own party’s past.
The former mayor of Manchester will be confirmed as Sir Keir Starmer’s replacement unopposed at a special conference in London on Friday, having received nominations from almost all Labour MPs – with 81 needed to enter the race, only Catherine West got one nomination from Neil Coyle, while 26 MPs did not back Burnham. He is due to take over as prime minister on Monday, but with parliament in recess he will face no scrutiny until September.
“Burnham to warn Britain took wrong turns in 1980s in first speech as Labour leader, vowing to undo Thatcher's economic settlement.”
Addressing the party, Burnham will warn that “political power was centralised and economic power privatised” in the 1980s and that building an economy and country that works for all requires “a new path to the one we’ve been on for the last 40 years”. The speech will also mark a break with the legacy of former Labour prime minister Sir Tony Blair, for whom Burnham served as a minister, who accepted Thatcher’s economic settlement. Burnham has already warned that “trickle down” economics does not work, signalling a turn to the left.
He is expected to raise an extra £38bn in tax and has not ruled out introducing a wealth tax supported by one of his key lieutenants, Louise Haigh, who is tipped to run the Cabinet Office as chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster. Meanwhile, the home secretary, Shabana Mahmood, is in pole position to become chancellor, with Energy Secretary Ed Miliband moved to the Foreign Office – a choice that has already sparked a backlash among some Labour MPs.
Jon Trickett, a senior Labour backbencher, has issued a dramatic challenge to the incoming leader on the eve of his coronation, arguing that he must not simply reshuffle ministers who embodied Starmer’s approach but instead install a new leadership team capable of delivering a fundamentally different political project. “Only a real change at the top of government” can deliver the new politics that has been promised, Trickett said.
Burnham will say his government will have the “courage to fix the big things that politics has neglected” and the “conviction to argue for our plans”. He will argue that only a confident Labour government can “lift Britain up” by putting people and places back at the heart of national decision-making. But with internal dissent already surfacing over cabinet appointments and a parliamentary recess shielding him from questions until September, the new leader faces an early test of his promise to deliver a “distinctively Labour” programme.
