Andy Burnham, the would-be Labour Prime Minister, has set out his pitch to the Midlands in a piece for BirminghamLive, promising a new direction for the country after a decade of political turbulence since Brexit and 20 years of falling living standards since the financial crash. He argues that Westminster is broken and that a new determination is needed to raise living standards for every person in the land.
A new collaborative politics
Burnham proposes moving away from the same approach that has led to the current situation, offering a circuit breaker for Britain. This starts with building a more collaborative politics in Westminster, taking power out of the centre and putting it in the hands of people and places that can use it best. He points to his experience as Mayor of Greater Manchester since 2017, where he built a politics based on place first, not party first; problem-solving, not scoring; long-term, not short-term.
In the Midlands, this means backing manufacturing, rail, aerospace and logistics. It means giving local leaders the power and resources to connect communities, support young people and revive high streets. Burnham emphasises that growth cannot be ordered from the top down but must be nurtured from the bottom up.
Number 10 North and rebalancing power
Burnham pledges to bring about the biggest rebalancing of power the country has seen. Number 10 North will be a nerve centre for a rewired Britain, acting as a conduit to redistribute power and resources across the UK. Its job will be to make power flow into places like Birmingham, Stoke-on-Trent, Coventry, Walsall and Derby. The days of Whitehall fighting devolution are over, and Whitehall will be required to get behind places and work together with them for quicker, more joined-up decisions. This is part of a 10-year mission to raise living standards across the land.
Three tasks: utilities, reindustrialisation, regeneration
Burnham outlines three clear tasks: reform of essential utilities, reindustrialisation, and the regeneration of places. On essential utilities, all parts of the UK should be able to take greater public control of services such as water, housing, energy, and transport, learning from the model that transformed bus networks in Greater Manchester. Ten-year plans will be set out to bring down the cost of these essentials. For the Midlands, this means energy, housing and transport, taking the cost of bills, rents and buses seriously.
On reindustrialisation, every region should be supported in setting clear industrial ambitions. In the Midlands, the opportunity is electric vehicles, rail, aerospace, logistics and advanced manufacturing. The task is to ensure that the jobs, skills, apprenticeships and wealth from that future are rooted in the communities that help create it. Public procurement will no longer chase cut-price deals around the world but will safeguard sovereign manufacturing in critical sectors such as steel, defence, energy, food and farming. This includes more 45-day work placements and apprenticeships for young people, ending a school system configured entirely around the university route. Parity between academic and technical education will give every young person a clear path into a reindustrialised Britain.
On regeneration, Burnham notes that Britain has lost almost one and a half million council homes since the 1980s. The country is in a housing trap, with families forced to chase rents in the private rented sector through the benefit system. Number 10 North will oversee the biggest council house building programme since the post-war era, using vacant public land to reduce costs and adopting a national Housing First philosophy. For the Midlands, this means more council homes in Wolverhampton, Mansfield, Nuneaton, Hereford and Northampton, and stronger towns with high streets that are backed, not managed in decline. Business rates will be reformed to support pubs and high street businesses.
A vision for the future
Burnham concludes that his pitch to the Midlands is simple: politics should work for you and the place where you live. It should back your strengths, understand your pressures, and give your community the power to shape its own future. He calls for good growth in every postcode and hope in every heart.
