UK’s likely next leader Burnham to unveil plan to shift power from London

LONDON, June 28 (Reuters) – Andy Burnham, the Labour lawmaker expected to replace Keir Starmer as British prime minister, will outline his vision for Britain on Monday, his office said, promising to change how the nation is governed with power moving from London to the regions.

Burnham, who returned to Westminster earlier this month after winning a parliamentary seat, is currently the only declared candidate to take over from Starmer and could be installed in Downing Street within weeks.

Starmer announced last week he would step down, just two years after winning a huge parliamentary majority for Labour, as his popularity sank.

Burnham, who rose to prominence as mayor of Greater Manchester and has been dubbed the “King of the North”, will use Monday’s speech to make devolving power to regions and local communities his flagship proposal.

He will also commit to a 10-year mission to raise living standards through reindustrialisation, housing, infrastructure and reform of utilities. The focus would be not just on who governs Britain, but on changing how it is governed, his office said.

He will set out how he plans to “lift Britain back up to where it should be” and provide the “circuit-breaker it needs”, alongside a pledge to reform public procurement to better support British jobs and industry.

If he takes office, Burnham will become Britain’s seventh prime minister in a decade, with many in his party believing only he has the charisma and the vision to connect with voters and counter the rise of Nigel Farage’s anti-immigration Reform UK party.

FISCAL PRESSURES LIMIT SCOPE

However, with Britain’s economy struggling from the impact of the war in Ukraine and more recently the energy shock of the U.S. conflict with Iran, the scope to make radical spending changes is limited.

Burnham has previously said the government should “get beyond this thing of being in hock to the bond markets” but later said his comments had been misrepresented. He has also stepped back from earlier calls for large-scale nationalisation or a near-term return to the European Union.

Housing minister Steve Reed said on Sunday Burnham would stick to Labour’s commitments made before the 2024 election and also to the government’s fiscal rules, including balancing day-to-day spending with tax revenues and reducing debt as a share of output.

“When it comes to the fundamentals, Andy has been clear he will stick to the fiscal rules that have delivered this country stability in the economy for the first time in over 15 years,” he told Sky News.

(Reporting by Michael HoldenEditing by Ros Russell)