Burnham’s Britain: King of the North on how he would ‘rewire’ Westminster

Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham has unveiled a radical approach to “rewire” Westminster and encourage greater cross-party collaboration.

On a panel at the Institute for Government conference, Burnham outlined three major constitutional reforms to deliver a “more functional Britain”, including a proportional voting system, abolishing the House of Lords in favour of a ‘Senate of the Nations and Regions’ and removing the whip system from MPs.

Burnham praised the pace of implementation for English devolution but hit out at some government departments resisting change and said more power needs to be wrestled from Whitehall.

“We need to feel the national state at the back of the local state, and in effect what we find ourselves [doing] is fighting it all of the time in an attritional battle.

“Rewiring relates to the flow of power, and modernising systems so the flow of power is better and in the right direction. I would say the unelected state, Whitehall, currently holds too much power.”

He called for a radical reform of the elected state toward a “place-based” approach, with the country moving towards a model similar to that of a combined authority.

“The answer to a more functional Britain is a major reform of the elected state, Westminster, to mirror what is being done in the local state, out in the world that I’m in – that’s about place-based, mission-orientated delivery, very much focused on growth.

“Devolution is the direction, devolution is bringing growth – not just here [in Manchester] but in other city regions as well.”

‘PR for the Commons’

For Burnham, such a shift requires a change in the voting system to proportional representation (PR) “to build a more collaborative, long-term culture within Westminster”.

Reflecting on his experience of running for election as Mayor under a non-first-past-post-system, he said: “I was so struck standing as Mayor of Greater Manchester than under first-past-the-post as an MP.

“What it meant for me in 2017, having stood for four elections under first-past-the-post, is that finally I was on doorsteps trying to find points of agreement with Lib Dem voters and Tory voters, because I could have got their second preference.

“It changes the conversation in a way that the public has always wanted it to change to solutions and collaboration and ‘can’t you all work together’ and ‘can’t you take a longer-term view about these things.

READ MORE: Electoral reform: Strong support for proportional representation among Labour members 

Burnham calls for Lords reform and removal of whip system

Burnham voiced his support for abolishing the House of Lords in favour of a “Senate of the Regions and Nations” – a proposal initially outlined in a 2022 Labour report into “renewing our democracy and rebuilding our economy”.

That report described the House of Lords in its present form as “indefensible” and called for an elected second chamber representative of the whole country.

Burnham also argued for a replacement, or even complete abolition, of the whip system for MPs.

“In my experience of 16 years in Westminster, the whip system disempowers the elected state, because often MPs are required to rubber stamp the long-held departmental positions. It is a brave minister that unilaterally will go and try and change those. It can do, but it doesn’t often happen.”

Burnham said these reforms would ensure that “we are all pulling in the same direction as a country, as a place-based mission-orientated system”.

He also said that PR for the House of Commons, along with reform of the House of Lords and “raising of the esteem in which MPs are held by the removal of the whip system”, would bring about a “culture change”.

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Greater Manchester as a success story to replicate

With Greater Manchester being Britain’s fastest growing economy, Burnham called on Westminster and Whitehall to follow its example, rather than its current preference to “under promise and over deliver”.

“We’ve got to think more whole society than government fixing everything. I would say to everyone that Greater Manchester’s success on growth is very much linked to a culture of partnership, where we have a goal or a mission all of the sectors line up together facing the same way and then pulling the same way. That is actually what makes the difference.”

He argued that setting a high ambition and reaching out to create partnerships across sectors, encouraging all to pull in the same direction in order to achieve the mission goals set, was the way forward for the state. He praised Energy Secretary Ed Miliband for being “brilliant” at such an approach.

His vision for Britain at the conference comes amid continued speculation around the Greater Manchester Mayor around a potential return to Westminster and a rumoured leadership bid.

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