As he enters No 10, Andy Burnham is at the height of his power. So what do people want him to do with it?
We’ve been delving into data shared with us by More in Common to understand people’s priorities and the ability of the new prime minister to convince them that he has a plan.
The top concern is abundantly clear – the cost of living is cited by 70% of people as one of their main worries.
That’s followed by the NHS (30%) and immigration (30%), so it’s no surprise that Burnham has decided to tackle the cost of living first.
But do people think that he can tangibly improve their lives?
There is evidence of increased optimism among the electorate of late.
When Labour first gained power in 2024, people thought that things would improve – 54% were hopeful.
But that dropped quite dramatically as Keir Starmer’s government bedded in – falling to a low of around 26% of people who thought Labour would improve their lives.
Now, it’s begun to tick back up, with 41% feeling hopeful since it became clear that Burnham was going to be the new prime minister.
However, how hopeful you feel depends quite significantly on where you live.
In the North West of England, where Burnham was Mayor of Manchester until recently, 37% of people think he ‘speaks for people’ like them.
But his reputation as ‘King of the North’ over-simplifies the picture.
In Yorkshire and the Humber, for example, the figure falls to 23%.
The ‘North’ (of England, let alone Scotland or Northern Ireland) is not some homogenous block.
And the figure falls even more dramatically as you travel south.
In the South East of England, just 12% of people think that Burnham speaks for them.
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That is a significant challenge, given that Labour cannot rely solely on northern seats if it wants to win the next general election.
Burnham has stressed that he wants to be a prime minister for north, south, east and west, but he still has some convincing to do.
We’ll hear more from him in the coming days and weeks and in reality, many voters are yet to make up their minds.
They need to know more before they give an informed opinion. But Andy Burnham doesn’t have long.
Politics moves fast these days, and he will need to keep ahead of it if he’s to buck the recent trend.