Burnham coronation closer yet Starmer ally raises alarm on borrowing June 24, 2026 Andy Burnham’s path to Downing Street has been all but cleared after Darren Jones ruled out entering a leadership race, spilling over to further speculation over the look of the next government’s Cabinet. Jones, a close ally of Sir Keir Starmer, was rumoured as a potential challenger to Burnham but the chief secretary to the [...]
What if Andy Burnham had become Labour leader in 2015? June 24, 2026 On his third try, Andy Burnham looks all but certain to become Labour leader. But what if he had taken the reins of the party eleven years earlier? Matt Kenyon imagines an alternative timeline… 2015 It’s a world that looks a lot like our own. There’s just one, seemingly minor, difference: A cluster of well-meaning [...]
Has Brexit been a success? It’s too early to tell June 24, 2026 Ten years ago today the country woke to the news that the UK had voted to leave the European Union. Campaigners for Remain were horrified, pro-Brexit activists were jubilant, markets were panicked and in Westminster the Prime Minister, David Cameron, resigned. The magnitude of the Leave campaign’s victory – of their achievement – was sinking [...]
Former Bank of England rate-setter to become next OBR chair June 23, 2026 A former rate-setter at the Bank of England and member of City AM’s Shadow Monetary Policy Committee is set to become the chair of the Office for Budget Responsibility, the fiscal watchdog which has come under pressure from MPs and inadvertently leaked last year’s Budget. Jonathan Haskel, professor of economics at Imperial College London, will [...]
Starmer to give Burnham access to government June 23, 2026 Sir Keir Starmer is set to hand Andy Burnham access to the civil service “as soon as possible”. After announcing his resignation, Starmer is preparing for a transition in government over the next four weeks. A government spokesperson confirmed that Burnham and other prospective Prime Ministers would be able to engage with senior civil servants [...]
Warning lights: UK services suffer worst shock since January 2023 June 23, 2026 Business activity across the UK economy is at a 14-month low, research has suggested, as growth has taken a toll from Labour’s political woes and the impact of the continued trade disruption. The initial estimate for S&P Global’s purchasing managers’ index (PMI) dropped to a score of 49.4 in June, falling further below the neutral [...]
Burnham to lay out economic plan, but markets fear Miliband as Chancellor June 23, 2026 With more than three weeks to go before he can formally clinch the keys to 10 Downing Street, leadership challenger Andy Burnham is planning to make a major speech on the economy next week. It’s part of an effort to reassure the bond markets – to which he once said we shouldn’t be “in hock” [...]
Burnham might lift Labour’s mood but he won’t save the country June 23, 2026 It was a little under two years ago that Keir Starmer stood outside 10 Downing Street and declared that his new government would “end the era of noisy performance [and] tread a little more lightly on your lives.” It was a bold ambition and, after a shambolic end to Tory rule, a welcome one. Was [...]
Five graphs that reveal Burnham’s fiscal headache June 23, 2026 Andy Burnham was not shy with his spending pledges in the run up to victory in Makerfield last week. At various points, the former Manchester Mayor has pledged his party will nationalise water companies, including Thames Water; “stick with” the Waspi women, signalling a potential multi-billion pound payout to aggrieved pensioners; slash rail fares; kick [...]
Streeting backs Burnham as ‘King of the North’ calls for ‘orderly’ transfer of power June 22, 2026 Wes Streeting has backed Andy Burnham to become Prime Minister as the former Manchester mayor formally announced his leadership bid. The former health secretary said Burnham “can win the fight of our lives against the forces of nationalism”. Streeting said he had spoken “at length” with Burnham and said the former Manchester mayor was “committed [...]