Burnham must embrace the politics of trying
Andy Burnham became Prime Minister on Monday (Alamy)
4 min read
To call Britain ungovernable is to give up.
On Monday, Andy Burnham became the sixth prime minister of the post-Brexit decade. In recent weeks, the familiar argument has resurfaced that Britain has become ungovernable: the public's expectations fail to match reality, 'cakeism' has become ingrained, and voters' impatience makes long-term change impossible.
But to blame voters for Downing Street's revolving door is, frankly, a cop-out.
Look back at the leaders who have come and gone, and it's hard to blame the public for largely self-inflicted errors: Liz Truss's mini-budget; Boris Johnson's Partygate; Theresa May boxing herself in on Brexit.
For Keir Starmer: his inability to connect with the public; freebiegate; the Winter Fuel Allowance; and his appointment of Peter Mandelson.
Each one faced challenges, yet they also each sowed the seeds of their own destruction.
In each case, the public felt these leaders didn't respect them and didn't "get it". As one Makerfield focus group participant said of Starmer: "He's in his own little room in No 10, he's not in the real world." The first thing Burnham must do is show he genuinely respects the public – and that he's actually trying to make a difference.
Public patience is wearing thin. Britain is by nature a nation of gradualists: even after giving Starmer his landslide and booting the Tories out, Britons in 2024 were still more likely to want smaller gradual changes to how the country works (52 per cent) than radical change (38 per cent).
Just two years later, More in Common's research with the UCL Policy Lab finds those numbers have flipped: 42 per cent now want radical change, and just 36 per cent prefer gradual change. As this demand for radical change has grown, expectations have dropped. In 2024, 54 per cent expected the incoming Labour government to improve their lives; that fell to below a quarter under Starmer. Burnham gets those numbers back up to 41 per cent, but some of the political capital spent by Starmer won't immediately come back.
Smaller, tangible interventions cut through, and again show voters that – even if fundamental change takes time – you are trying
That is why Burnham cannot count on a honeymoon. Our polling shows most Britons expect his government to have radically changed Britain within a year, and want to see progress on everything from NHS waiting times to small boat crossings. On the cost of living, the timeline is even shorter: a plurality wants progress within six months. Voters who have moved to the Greens and Reform UK demand immediate progress on the cost of living as the price of return.
In short, unless the Prime Minister can immediately show he gets it on cost of living, his window for a rehearing will slam shut. The good news for Burnham: he does not need to transform the economy in his first hundred days to pass that test. Mooted measures such as removing charges on energy bills will help to demonstrate the politics of trying. Asked to choose, Britons narrowly prefer smaller, targeted measures on the cost of living over a focus on growth, even if they make less long-term difference to the economy.
In our Makerfield focus groups, the Greater Manchester bus fare cap was raised repeatedly as one of Burnham's top achievements. "It saved me about 60 quid a month, just by him capping the bus fare," Ella, a nurse from Highfield, told us, "and I think everybody in whatever wage bracket you're in is feeling it." Smaller, tangible interventions cut through, and again show voters that – even if fundamental change takes time – you are trying.
Burnham's signature agenda – devolution – resonates with voters. There is clear support across every party for moving power away from Westminster elites. But rewiring in the long term has to be accompanied by action in the short term on bread and butter issues. Voters will judge the policies like No 10 North by whether it actually improves their lives.
To call Britain ungovernable is to give up. To blame the public means we don’t look back at the people who have tried to lead Britain over the past decade, and ask what they might have done differently. It suggests that on the issues the public care most about – public services, the NHS, migration, crime, job opportunities and, most urgently, the cost of living – the government is powerless to deliver. It risks becoming self-fulfilling.
More than anything, the public wants to see that the government is trying.
Luke Tryl is the Executive Director of More in Common UK
