Will Andy Burnham lead a regional regeneration revolution?

In this article, Ward Hadaway’s Head of Public Funding Alexander Rose looks into the policy ideas Andy Burnham has put forward in the book “Head North” with Liverpool City Region Metro Mayor, Steve Rotheram, and the vision presented in his “Manchesterism” speech  at the People’s History Museum at the end of June 2026 to evaluate whether his time as Prime Minister is likely to lead to a regional regeneration revolution.

What can we learn from Head North, the book written by Andy Burnham and Stever Rotheram in 2024?

The first half of the book “Head North: A Rallying Cry for a More Equal Britain” explains the political motivations of the two authors, starting with the significant impact that the Hillsborough disaster in April 1989 had upon their lives and the communities that they grew up in.

In 2012, the Government published a report that stated the deaths of 97 Liverpool fans at Hillsborough “should never have happened” finding that “there were clear operational failures in response to the disaster and its aftermath there were strenuous attempts to deflect the blame onto the fans“.

The campaign to secure justice has shaped both politicians, with Andy Burnham stating that the families of the fans “should never have had to fight” for the truth to come out and stating that South Yorkshire Police had “consistently put protecting itself above protecting people harmed by Hillsborough“.

Both Andy Burnham and Steve Rotheram have been ardent campaigners for the introduction of a Hillsborough Law which will create a duty of candour, requiring public authorities and officials to tell the truth and co-operate with official investigations and inquiries. The Public Office (Accountability) Bill is currently working its way through Parliament and expected to come into force in Andy Burnham’s first year as Prime Minister.

There are two other key moments that have shaped Andy Burnham’s political journey. His time as a Member of Parliament appears to have been characterised by slow disillusionment, with particular resentment around the Whip system. Whilst recognising the benefits of coordinating MPs, he argues that when applied too robustly it prevents MPs from properly taking the views of their constituents into account and contributing to Parliamentary debate.  Andy Burnham is also highly critical of the Civil Service claiming that Britain is run by “around 50 people in Whitehall“, most of them with “London-centric views.”

This dissatisfaction led to both Andy Burnham and Steve Rotherham stepping back as MPs and taking up roles as the Metro Mayor for Greater Manchester and Liverpool City Region respectively.  This gave each the ability to assess the impact that Central and Local Government was having.

Unsurprisingly both champion the different Metro Mayors can make, stating that they understand their local economies far better than Whitehall civil servants, in particular they can target local funding specifically toward regional priorities like tech, green energy, and high-quality residential development.

The other crucible moment in in the political lives of both Andy Burnham and Steve Rotherham is the Covid-19 pandemic. Their core complaint is that decisions that had significant local impact were made by Central Government, often without the Metro Mayor even being told.

Andy Burnham uses the example of the furlough scheme.  When Greater Manchester was forced into a strict lockdown, the government refused to provide an 80% furlough scheme, offering a reduced rate that would plunge low-paid workers into poverty. Yet, just weeks later, when London and the South East required a lockdown, the full 80% furlough was instantly reinstated nationwide— a move Burnham cites as absolute proof of structural bias.

The structural bias is argued to be ingrained and means regions within the UK are “being held back“. An example is given of the Green Book, which is argued to be “hardwired” towards London bias, “baking in regional inequality” because it values infrastructure projects that deliver the highest direct economic return, which is easier to achieve in affluent areas.

How Andy Burnham and Steve Rotheram propose to “rewire” the state

For the reasons above Andy Burnham and Steve Rotheram believe that significant and structural changes are needed to “rewire” the UK so that the regions of the UK can achieve their potential.

The second half of the book sets out policies, which both Andy Burnham and Steve Rotheram would like to implement. This includes

• A written constitution for the United Kingdom – 97.4% of countries have a written constitution, the UK does not. Although there are conventions and rules in sources such as Erskine May, the authors argue that this has allowed the country to drift into a system where there is serious inequality between different regions
• Proportional representation – Head North promotes the idea of replacing the ‘first past the post system’ in elections, replacing this with a system which encourages parties to “fight for every vote“, even in safe seats
• A “German Basic Law” (Grundgesetz) that legally mandates “equivalent living standards” across all of its regions to ensure all parts of the country are funded fairly and equally based on need
• A new era of devolution in which Mayoral Strategic Authorities, Devolved Administrations and other public authorities outside of Whitehall will play a central role in driving local economic growth and raise living standards
• Greater investment in Net Zero to reindustrialise the North – the transition to net-zero is presented as a massive economic and industrial opportunity rather than just an environmental necessity
• Utility control – the authors proposed a programme of returning certain utilities (such as water and energy) into public ownership with others being subject to heightened state intervention and regional oversight
• A post-war-style council house building programme to combat the systemic housing crisis
• A rethink of education for those over the age of 14 to ensure young people are prepared for the future economy without being funnelled exclusively into traditional higher education

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Take Me There

What can we learn from Andy Burnham’s speech at Manchester’s People’s History Museum on 29 June 2026?

Andy Burnham’s speech at the People’s History Museum was given at a time when it was possible other Labour politicians might look to challenge him for leadership of the Labour Party and as such it provides an overall vision, rather than setting out a detailed case for specific policies. That said, there were some policy announcements made, including:

• The creation of “No 10 North” – a permanent, expanded operations centre in Central Manchester which will operate as the nerve centre for decision about regional growth
• A national “Housing First” approach, drawing upon Finland’s successful policy in which a secure home is prioritised and treated as the foundation for health and employment
• A strong commitment a new wave of devolution with Metro Mayors handed new responsibilities and funds, including in respect of social housing, welfare deployment and post-16 technical education
• The creation of “Good Growth Funds“ that consolidate public and private regional investments into locally managed pools
• Reform to the UK’s Public Procurement regime moving away from “chasing cut-price deals around the world” towards a purchasing policy that acts as a strategic tool for place-based growth, reindustrialisation, and local community support.

Opinion: what impact will Andy Burnham have on regeneration?

Based on what he has written in Head North and his speech at the People’s History Museum, Andy Burnham regards regeneration to be primary political priority of his Government – with the overall objective being to deliver improved living standards for people across the country in the next decade.

To achieve this he seems willing to make radical changes, particularly to the way the Civil Service is run. An example of this is the creation of Number 10 North, which will be based in Manchester and support upon three clear tasks:

• The regeneration of places
• Reindustrialisation
• Reform of essential utilities.

He is reported to have appointed Caroline Simpson, formerly the Chief Executive of Greater Manchester Combined Authority to lead the organisation.

This a statement to those in Whitehall that the power dynamic has changed.  However, successful regeneration is not achieved by statements – rather it is built upon good ideas, meaningful funding and disciplined delivery.

In this regard, there is cause for optimism for those within the regions.  By devolving many more functions to Metro Mayors, regions will now compete against one another to come up with interesting and innovative regeneration initiatives.  The challenge will be nurturing those ideas and improving capacity, in particular bringing those with expertise and experience into the decision making process, when for so many years most of those roles have been based in London and the South East of England.

In terms of public funding, it is clear that there is a long term plan to make sure that the regions of the UK are able access similar infrastructure investment to that enjoyed by London (there has long been a disparity in this regard, for example in 2011, IPPR reported that transport spend weas £2731 per head in London, compared to £5 per head in the North East).

If Andy Burnham is able to introduce a German Basic Law, this will mean significantly more funding for large projects in the English regions. Of course, the challenge will be getting such a proposal through Parliament given that rebalancing budgets will mean some areas lose out, whilst others benefit.  That said, the argument for this initiative is that by investing these sums the regions will grow, thereby making the whole country more prosperous.

Of course, if much larger sums are controlled by Metro Mayors the public will want to see suitable checks and balances in place. It is likely that a similar audit system which applies to Central Government departments will be introduced for Mayoral Strategic Authorities, with spot checks carried out to ensure compliance.

In terms of delivery, capacity remains the issue. There is already fierce competition for those with genuine experience of delivering projects and this will increase as more regeneration functions are transferred to Mayoral Strategic Authorities.

Conclusion

Andy Burnham has pledged to “fix things politics has neglected“.  This is expected to result in significant changes to how regeneration is delivered – including taking powers and funds away from Whitehall and giving these to Metro Mayors and Devolved Administrations.  However, even with a Parliamentary majority making such significant changes to how regeneration has been delivered for decades will be difficult.

This is an opinion article and represents the views of Alexander Rose, rather than the wider viewpoint of Ward Hadaway.

Ward Hadaway is the leading law firm for matters involving public funding. Our lawyers have decades of experience and have worked on some of the country’s most important public funded projects, including advising Ministers as part of the Government Legal Department, advising on the setting up of new public authorities and advising upon large financial instruments.