Words by Emily Youlton, Senior Politics Producer
Andy Burnham promised to “make politics work, to make it work better” in his first speech as prime minister on Downing Street.
The speech marked the start of his premiership as he headed through that famous black door and promised to get started on giving “people some breathing space now”.
After a busy first day appointing his cabinet, day two turned straight to his first policy announcement of cutting VAT on electricity bills from 5% to 0% in October.
With no real manifesto yet, there are lots of unknowns relating to Burnham’s plans and policies, and there will be some challenges for the new PM that may not be on the top of his list.
But as he made clear to his cabinet at their first meeting on Tuesday: “We need to be a cost of living government” and give people a “sense that help is coming”.
Here, ITV News looks at some key policies that Burnham will prioritise in his premiership.
Burnham has said that his team will be “a cost of living government” and has said that he will set out his full plan to tackle the crisis in the coming days.
His first policy announcement to cut VAT from electricity bills is estimated to save the average household around £45 a year, less than £4 a month.
Consumer expert Martin Lewis also indicated that with the energy price cap set to rise in October, this saving will feel even smaller.
The cut will be funded by scrapping the previous government’s digital ID programme, although former cabinet minister Darren Jones said on social media that the project was unfunded.
Time is not on any government’s side and Burnham knows he must act quickly to make an impact on people’s lives, with new polling of voters from Deltapoll showing Labour level with Reform at 28%.
It is thought Burnham wants to bring back the £2 bus cap, if he has the funds to do so, after Starmer’s government raised it to £3 for single journeys in January 2025.
This builds on his transport policy as Mayor of Greater Manchester, where local fares on the Bee Network were capped at £2.
It is understood transport secretary Heidi Alexander is on board with this idea and lobbied the government to include free bus travel or five to 15 year olds as part of the Great British Summer Savings scheme.
Other rumoured cost of living policy ideas include rent freezes and increasing the tax threshold on personal allowance.
Housing
On the steps of Downing Street on Monday, Burnham vowed that his first act as prime minister would be to instruct plans to end rough sleeping, investing £340 million into the idea.
This comes on top of the previous government’s allocation of £3.5 billion for the National Plan to End Homelessness, which was designed to half the rates of long-term rough sleeping.
This follows his previous “A Bed Every Night” programme in Manchester, which he pledged to donate 15% of his mayoral salary to and saw rough sleeping drop by two thirds in his first five years as mayor.
Some critics point to the continued rise in homelessness in Greater Manchester over the past four years but Burnham claimed a lack of a joined up approach by other authorities meant people came to the area to seek support.
Further details set out by No 10 said the additional funding would go towards acquiring suitable homes, identifying those most in need and starting to provide housing and support “without delay”.
The government claimed that this funding uplift will provide 1,200 homes and intensive support for at least 3,000 long-term rough sleepers over a five year period.
Burnham also has ambitious plans for the “biggest council housebuilding programme since the post-war period” and will hope the return of Angela Rayner as housing secretary will help him achieve this.
Sarah Elliot, CEO of Shelter welcomed Burnham’s plans and said: “The prime minister has given Angela Rayner a clear mandate to roll out a council housing revolution and put an end to rough sleeping – now it’s her time to deliver.
“Having grown up in social housing, Rayner knows better than anyone that an affordable, decent home is the foundation for everything, giving people the building blocks they need to get on in life and setting children up to thrive.”
Devolution
During his essentially non-existent campaign to become Labour leader, Burnham set out a plan to create a Number 10 of the North, tasked with rolling out “good growth in every postcode”.
This shift to relocate large parts of the Whitehall machine to Manchester has already begun, with Downing Street confirming that civil servants are already working at the new northern base – an existing government building and claim it will not cost no extra money.
Burnham, a Manchester resident, is keen to make the most of the base for himself, and according to his spokesperson, he expects to work out of No 10 North “at least one day a week” where his diary allows.
The promise of improving “every postcode” is ambitious and Burnham is at risk of alienating rural and southern communities and MPs, who don’t know much about the ‘King of the North’ or feel he understands their issues.
Labour MP for South West Norfolk, Terry Jermy told ITV News, that Burnham needs to understand that “rural areas are different to your Manchesters and your Londons of the world”.