Andy Burnham has indicated that his first move as Prime Minister could be to shield households from soaring water bills by nationalising Thames Water, which currently charges an average of £658 per year. The average bill rose by £3 in 2026, a 0.4 per cent increase, but Burnham argues that private ownership has led to excessive profiteering at the expense of customers.
Public Ownership 'Absolutely an Option'
The Labour MP for Makerfield, who is widely expected to succeed Sir Keir Starmer, said Thames Water should be taken into public ownership. “Public ownership is absolutely an option,” he said. “I would say for Thames Water, that is what should be done.” He has previously called for “greater public control” over water companies.
Burnham criticised the current model, stating: “If you look at the situation that we have here in the Makerfield constituency, people have recently experienced hefty hikes in their bills. The profits of the water company have almost doubled, if not doubled. If you look at water as an industry as a whole, it’s run predominantly in the private interest rather than the public interest, or in other words, it’s an industry where the shareholders can never lose and the bill payers never win.”
Funding and Consequences
Burnham said he would fund nationalisation by “running the industry differently”, adding: “And you prevent the excessive profiteering out of water, which we’ve now seen over many years.” He also backed criminal consequences for water company bosses who fail to tackle sewage spills. “I certainly would support the point about bonuses in terms of criminal consequences for people who fail to deal with sewage and the spills that we’ve seen … If people wilfully ignore their responsibilities, well, they should face serious consequences.”
He drew parallels with other privatised industries, noting that singer and campaigner Feargal Sharkey had identified “billions and billions and billions that have been siphoned out of the water industry without that money going back into the infrastructure”. Burnham said: “We’ve allowed this to happen in this country over four decades, where a small number of people have made a lot of money out of these services, when the vast majority have been left paying more for a poorer service.”
Public Anger and a New Direction
Burnham concluded: “The public are rightly furious about this situation. I think what we have to do is draw a line and say that the public interest has to predominate now over the private interest.” The move would mark a significant shift in water policy, potentially saving the average household £658 a year.
