MANCHESTER, England (AP) 鈥� , likely the next U.K. prime minister, pledged Monday to give away a chunk of his power by handing greater autonomy to local leaders in a 鈥渃ircuit-breaker鈥� for the sclerotic British state.
The former mayor of Greater Manchester also said he would move part of the prime minister鈥檚 office from London鈥檚 10 Downing St. to northwest England as part of 鈥渢he biggest rebalancing of power our country has seen.鈥�
鈥淕rowth cannot be ordered from the top down. Instead, it can only be nurtured from the bottom up,鈥� Burnham said in a speech aimed at bringing voters, Labour Party colleagues and financial markets up to speed with his .
Burnham is the strong favorite to replace Prime Minister who announced his resignation last week.
鈥淚f councils can鈥檛 fix potholes, what chance do they have of bringing forward major regeneration schemes to get growth going?鈥� Burnham said. He set out a 10-year plan to get 鈥済ood growth in every postcode,鈥� in a country where wealth and power are concentrated in London and the south of England.
He said he would reverse almost two decades of low growth since the 2008 financial crisis through an approach dubbed 鈥淢anchesterism鈥� 鈥� harnessing private and public money to invest in areas like transport, housing and infrastructure. He also pledged to create new industrial jobs and better educational opportunities, and to reform the U.K.鈥檚 inefficient and expensive privatized water and energy utilities.
Moving the new 鈥楴o. 10 North鈥� to Manchester
During the speech at the People鈥檚 History Museum in the city where he spent nine years as mayor, Burnham said a new government office in Manchester 鈥� dubbed 鈥淣o. 10 North鈥� 鈥� would oversee regional development and become 鈥渢he nerve center of a rewired Britain,鈥� tasked with equalizing living standards across the country. Regional mayors would get more power over housing, welfare and education as part of his planned reforms.
Burnham鈥檚 rousing speech was short on specifics about where the government would find more money, and he didn鈥檛 take questions from journalists.
Burnham won praise for his role in revitalizing and regenerating Manchester, but he has not served in a U.K. government for almost two decades, and may struggle to replicate 鈥淢anchesterism鈥� on a U.K.-wide scale.
The Institute for Public Policy Research, a left-leaning think tank, said Burnham is right to focus on 鈥渞ebalancing Britain.”
鈥淭he U.K.鈥檚 concentration of power and opportunity in Westminster has held back growth, productivity and living standards for too long,鈥� said IPPR Executive Director Harry Quilter-Pinner. 鈥淭he real test now is delivery.鈥�
Matthew Flinders, a politics professor at the University of Sheffield, said replicating Burnham鈥檚 Manchester approach on a national level would require 鈥渁 fundamental shift” in the way politics is done in Britain.
鈥淎nd at the heart of that would be moving from a very traditional, elitist, centralized model of politics toward something that is in many ways far more European, far more based on power-sharing in order to develop long-term policymaking capacity,鈥� he said.
Burnham is likely to inherit Starmer’s challenges
Burnham will be aware that Starmer also announced a 10-year mission 鈥� the equivalent of two full terms in government 鈥�- to transform Britain soon after he was elected in a landslide in July 2024. Starmer is leaving after in office marred by missteps and judgment errors that eroded his standing with his party and the public.
Burnham won a for a seat in Parliament on June 18 and was sworn in as a lawmaker on June 22, the same day Starmer announced as soon as a successor is chosen.
Burnham is so far the only contender in the Labour Party leadership contest. If no one challenges him, he will become prime minister by July 20.
While Burnham is considered more charismatic than the stolid Starmer, he will face many of the same political and economic challenges, including a sluggish economy, and a cost-of-living squeeze. He will also be constrained by the platform the center-left Labour Party was elected on in 2024, with its pledges not to increase taxes on working people.
And like other NATO countries, the U.K. is under pressure to dramatically increase defense spending to counter a more aggressive Russia and less reliable United States.
The government鈥檚 long-awaited defense investment plan 鈥� which sparked the on June 11 鈥� is expected to be published before a NATO summit in Turkey on July 7 and 8. Starmer鈥檚 successor will be expected to stick to the commitments in the plan.
鈥淎ndy Burnham鈥檚 big idea is to shuffle power between politicians,鈥� said opposition Conservative Party Chairman Kevin Hollinrake. 鈥淣ot fix the welfare system. Not cut the taxes strangling working families and British business. Not fund the defense our country desperately needs.鈥�
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Lawless reported from London. Associated Press Writer Brian Melley contributed to this story.
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