Overview
- Andy Burnham is the presumptive prime minister after Sir Keir Starmer’s resignation and has promoted a 'No 10 North' plan for mass devolution that he first outlined in a Manchester speech on Monday.
- He has publicly ruled out 'crude cuts' to welfare and said he will stick to core 2024 manifesto commitments, including the pensions triple lock.
- Burnham signalled limited room for targeted tax changes, proposing higher business rates on out‑of‑town warehouses to fund cuts for high‑street firms, but he has not yet named a chancellor to cost and oversee those measures.
- He acknowledged he did not have full details of a reported £4.7 billion gap in the Defence Investment Plan and pledged to fund it, prompting urgent calls from markets and politicians for transparent, costed fiscal plans.
- Practical obstacles to ‘No 10 North’ include Treasury control of spending and likely civil service resistance, so the immediate tests for his transition are a chancellor appointment, published fiscal numbers and concrete steps to devolve powers.