Andy Burnham has vowed to continue the debate he has instigated over the direction of the Labour Party under Keir Starmer’s leadership, in a direct response to his internal critics.
In his first major intervention at Labour’s annual conference in Liverpool, Burnham criticised a “climate of fear” in the party, which he suggested had been imposed by the leadership by way of recent suspensions.
In wide-ranging comments, the mayor of Greater Manchester reiterated his support for Lucy Powell, the former cabinet minister who is running for Labour’s deputy leadership.
Speaking at the Labour4PR fringe in Liverpool, Burnham ventured some distance beyond the event’s ostensible focus, with remarks on the two-child benefit cap, social housing and transport policy.
In his opening remarks, Burnham set out his support for proportional representation (PR) — a proposal that has been ruled out by the government. He looked ahead to the next general election and warned that Reform UK could win it with a historically limited share of the vote.
Reflecting on his experience campaigning for the Greater Manchester mayoralty, which is elected under the supplementary vote system, Burnham spoke positively of the impact of ranked voting.
He said that “point scoring gave way to trying to find points of agreement”.
Burnham added: “It creates a situation where the process of politics starts to align with the way the public see politics, because they look at us, and they look at what goes on in Westminster and on the television screens, and they think, why don’t they just try and find solutions and sort of work together? Why don’t they do that?…
“I think if we were to move to a PR system for Westminster, we would get the same effect replacing point scoring with the search for points of agreement”.
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Burnham predicted that the next general election, expected to be held in 2029, would boil down to a “choice of worldviews”.
He said: “I feel if we’re heading towards an election that is a choice of two worldviews: our view, the progressive view, the values that have shaped the country that we’ve always known and always lived in, or something much darker and very divisive.”
He added: “It is dangerous to continue with an electoral system that can elect a majority government on a minority of the vote.”
Burnham set out his support for a national commission on electoral reform, an ask of the all-party parliamentary group (APPG) for fair elections. He argued PR would “would lay the ground for a new politics [and] a better conversation with the public”.
The former Labour MP went on to argue that electoral reform would precede economic reform and lead to “some of the structural changes this country needs to make.”
He said: “In my view, we’re living in a time where we’ve lost control of the costs of the essentials, and in many ways, we’ve lost control of the costs of public spending, because everything was broken up and sold off in the 1980s, we don’t control life’s essentials as a country in a way that we once did.
“People are overpaying for water, housing, energy, transport, and the country is overpaying for those things as well.
“If you think about housing, specifically, the 1.4 million social and council homes this country has lost since the 1980s, costs us now £25 billion every year. We’re £25 billion poorer because of the loss of those social homes when you have a benefit system that is chasing rents in the private rented sector.
“That’s what I mean about losing control of our costs.”
Weaving his argument into a case for electoral reform, Burnham continued: “What I think a move to a proportional system would do is it would allow new politics to come in, where parties that can agree can set a long term approach so repairing the basics, building the council and social homes that we need as a country over a 10 year period.”
The Greater Manchester mayor reiterated his stance that the Labour Party needs a debate on the direction adopted by the government, and committed himself to continuing to lead that debate.
He said: “I think we got to go back to repairing the basics, housing, education, transport… And these are the ideas that I’m putting forward, because I think we need to debate them as a party.
“To me, the way to reassure the bond markets and stop looking over our shoulder at them is to have that long-term, stable approach agreed between different political parties that takes the volatility away, that takes the uncertainty away, and then the country’s back on the right path, where we’ve got the headroom to make this investment that, in the end, improves people’s lives and improves the public finances.”
Burnham insisted he did not regret the fact that he had “launched a debate on [the Labour Party’s] direction”.
He said: “I think we need [a debate] at this moment, because I want this government to be a success…
“And let me say something about what I’ve done in recent weeks that proves I am here to support the government to be that success: I spent much of my summer strengthening the Hillsborough law, making sure that the bill I put into parliament in 2017 was fully replicated in the new government bill…
“I did that because I wanted this conference to be a success for the prime minister and the government in this city [Liverpool]. And it’s absolutely wonderful to see the commitment to it.”
But Burnham maintained that the debate should “go further” and vowed not to “shy away from [it]”.
He said: “In fact, I’m in a position to say something, to open up that debate. I think it’s very important that we do that we do that right now, because… the next election, when it comes, will be a big choice. But let’s not forget the challenge is right in front of us now: [the election in] May 2026 [are] going to be a huge challenge for our party.”
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Burnham also criticised the “climate of fear” which he said surrounded internal debates within the Labour Party. He argued that such discussions are being “closed down”.
He said: “[But] how can you have an open debate about all those things, if there’s too much of a climate of fear within our party and the way the party is being run.
He asked: “How do you get in the position… where a party member is suspended for liking a tweet by another political party, or a [MP] loses the whip for trying to protect disability benefits or the two-child cap…
Burnham added: “I was really pleased to see Lucy Powell go out there first and say, we do need to remove that two-child benefit cap — she’s got my strong support for deputy leader. I hope she’s got yours too.”
Looking back to the New Labour era, in which he served as a cabinet minister, Burnham said he does not recall “the party being run in that [heavy-handed] way”.
He said: “To sustain a Labour government, you can’t be narrow and shallow. You’ve got to have everybody in play, everybody working together to fight the threat we’re facing. We need to be more united everybody, don’t we?
“We need all people feeling part of this Labour government. And that’s why we need to have this debate now.”
Burnham went on to respond to comments by Alan Johnson, the former Labour home secretary, who this morning urged him to explicitly rule out challenging for the party leadership.
He said: “To those today making calls for simplistic statements of loyalty, well, I say if that closes down the debate we need, I think that’s at risk of underestimating the peril the party is in as we get to the polls next May.
“So I’ve been accused of all things in the last week, as you can probably, as you can probably see — I’ve done nothing more than launch a debate.”
Burnham rejected the suggestion he is speaking out to further his own political ambitions. “I can say to you all tonight, I am speaking out for the thousands of councillors here at this conference who are worried about going to those doorsteps next May”, he said, “speaking for the members of the Senedd, who, again, are working hard to keep Wales Labour…
“And, of course, members of the Scottish parliament as well, who want a stronger story about Labour to go to those doorsteps.”
He closed: “I’m speaking out for the millions of good people around Britain who want a more hopeful direction for the country. I think we can do it. I honestly believe it can be done. We can make this government work.
“We can find that more hopeful direction, and we can win again at the next general election. Thank you very much.”
Josh Self is editor of Politics.co.uk, follow him on Bluesky here and X here.
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