What we know about Andy Burnham's policies

Andy Burnham is set to become the UK's prime minister next week, after the vast majority of Labour MPs nominated him to replace Sir Keir Starmer.

It means the former mayor of Greater Manchester will enter Downing Street just weeks after his return to Parliament in the Makerfield by-election last month.

Here is what we know so far about his plans for office.

Burnham has promised the biggest-ever "rebalancing of power" away from Whitehall, with English regions handed more control in areas including housing and transport by a new No 10 unit based in Manchester.

The unit would be tasked with promoting "equivalent living conditions" across Britain, borrowing from an idea in the German constitution.

He has also promised new opportunities to extend existing devolution settlements in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland by taking power "deeper down".

This could be an area where he looks to build on the policies of the Starmer government, which was in the process of extending regional mayors beyond the main urban areas in England.

Rachel Reeves was also due to set out a roadmap at the next Budget for how regional mayors could be given control of a share of income tax raised in their areas.

Burnham has said he wants all parts of the UK to take "greater public control" of the water and energy sectors.

He has suggested this could emulate Greater Manchester's bus network, where private operators bid to run services on a franchise basis, with local authorities controlling fares, timetables and routes.

However, he is yet to spell out what an equivalent model for water and energy companies would mean in practice.

Burnham has been at pains to point out his plans do not necessarily mean full nationalisation of utility firms, a move that would cost many billions of pounds.

One area where he has advocated direct public ownership is Thames Water, a move that is already on the cards after government objected to a proposed rescue deal for the debt-laden company in June.

Burnham has promised the biggest council house building programme "since the post-War period" - implying a large rise in rates of construction compared to recent years. However, he is yet to offer details of how this would be funded.

The pledge would be all the more challenging to meet given that Burnham has promised to stick to the current government's debt and spending rules.

He has also called for the entire 10-year £39bn affordable housing budget for England towards homes for social rent, the cheapest and most heavily subsidised form of publicly-funded housing.

Currently some of the budget goes towards "affordable" housing, where rents are more similar to market rates, as well as affordable home ownership schemes.

He has also expressed a desire to see higher density residential development in towns in order to protect more green spaces from development.

Some of his other policies in this area - including restricting Right to Buy - have already been put in train by the current government.

Burnham has said he would stick to Labour's pledge at the last election not to raise the main rates of income tax, VAT or National Insurance, whilst maintaining there is "some room within that manifesto for movement" in other areas.

During his campaign to be re-elected an MP, he also said he wanted to "have a proper look" at potentially raising the £12,570 starting threshold for income tax.

Burnham has previously argued the UK overtaxes work and undertaxes wealth, prompting speculation he could raise capital gains tax - paid on profits made when selling assets such as shares and property aside from a main home.

In one interview, Burnham did not rule out a wealth tax, suggesting his incoming government may have "to ask for a little more" tax at some point.

The Labour MP said he would take time to review the state of the public finances and wanted to focus on "bringing people together" rather than creating "new divisions".

He has previously suggested that both council tax and stamp duty, a tax paid by homebuyers, could be replaced with a new tax on the value of land - an idea he has been advocating since as far back as 2010.

Burnham has long supported the idea that social care should become a more universal system.

In a speech in 2023, he suggested this could be funded by replacing inheritance tax with a new "national care levy". He has suggested everyone would pay this new tax, whilst "obviously the wealthiest would pay the most".

The Health Foundation think tank estimated in 2024 that an NHS-style model of universal and comprehensive care could cost around £17bn in additional funding by 2035/36.

A cheaper option would be a Scottish-style system, with basic protection for everyone against some care costs, which would cost around £7bn by 2035/36 to replicate in England, according to the think tank.

During his Makerfield campaign, Burnham said he did not "resile" from his previous stance, but is yet to offer further details of how the idea would be implemented.

How to improve England's social care system, where subsidised care is currently reserved for those with the highest needs and fewest assets, is a question that has bedevilled politicians for years.

Labour promised to overhaul the system in opposition, but upon taking office commissioned a review of funding that is not due to report until 2028. Burnham has said he would bring that forward to the end of this year.

Like the Sunak government, Labour has reduced levels of immigration by tightening visa requirements.

During his Makerfield campaign, Burnham said net migration "needs to fall further", although he has not set a specific target.

One area where he could have an internal battle on his hands is over proposals to lengthen the time that foreign nationals already living in the UK would have to wait before they can qualify for permanent residence.

Earlier this year, Burnham urged Labour MPs to heed warnings from the party's former deputy leader Angela Rayner about the impact of the changes.

But when running to be an MP himself, he said he supported the "broad thrust" of the plans, unveiled earlier this year by Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood.

Burnham has said he wants to see a "fair and lasting" reduction to the UK's welfare bill, amid rising spending on health and disability benefits in recent years.

But he has not set out plans to change the level of benefits payments, or how people qualify to receive them.

Instead, he argues the claimant count can be reduced by improving employment support and "in-work" mental health support. He has also said he wants 16 to 18-year-olds to have guaranteed work placements.

Burnham has said he would keep the "triple lock" - a political promise to raise the state pension each year by the highest of inflation, wage increases or 2.5%.

Burnham has said he wanted to preserve "sovereign manufacturing" capability in key areas such as steel, defence, energy, and farming, and he wanted to make it easier for British companies to win public contracts.

During the by-election campaign, his team sent out a policy document promising a cut in business rates for pubs and music venues by 20%.

That would be paid for, they said, by higher taxes of out-of-town warehouses used by online retailers like Amazon.

Burnham also wants to raise the threshold at which business rates kick in, taking lots of small high street shops out of paying altogether.

Burnham has said he would like the UK to rejoin the EU within his lifetime, but he has insisted he does not want to "re-run the [2016] referendum now".

He has pledged to seek a "closer relationship" with European countries, and "consolidate the progress made" on existing negotiations with the EU.

His stance on relations with the EU would soon be put to the test, as he inherits a series of live negotiations on youth visas, food regulations and plans to relink the UK to the EU's carbon pricing regime.

Defence spending, which prompted the resignation of Starmer's defence secretary John Healey earlier in June, would provide another headache.

In one of his final decisions in office, Sir Keir announced a plan to increase military spending by £15bn over the next four years by cutting spending in other parts of government, whilst leaving the details to Burnham to flesh out.

A key challenge would also be how Burnham seeks to handle US President Donald Trump. He has said the UK should seek a "good relationship" with the US, whilst being willing to say "if we can't agree with them".

Burnham has said he would "seek to persuade my own party" of the need to include a pledge in Labour's next election manifesto to replace the UK's first-past-the-post system with a form of proportional representation.

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