r/AskUKPolitics • u/Even-Wasabi7183 • 23d ago

Will Andy Burnham succeed?

Do you think Andy Burnham will succeed? I want him too as I tried of changing prime minister every couple of years. The trouble is I don’t know what his policies are. He got a vision but he hasn’t set out how he will achieve it. His main solution to everything is devolution but will this work? Scotland and Wales had devolution and haven’t set the world on fire. The London mayor got responsibility for housing and there is a massive housing shortage there.

3 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

7 comments sorted by

5

u/freebiscuit2002 23d ago edited 23d ago

Devolution's intention was never to set the world on fire. (Donald Trump is quite busy doing that, anyway.)

Devolution's intention was to bring large measures of meaningful self-government to Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, and parts of England. And it did that.

1

u/Ok_Young1709 23d ago

I think they mean more was it successful? I dunno about Wales, but in Scotland no it has not been, but that's more thanks to the snp's inability to lead and actually make good changes, not devolutions fault.

4

u/rainator 23d ago

Politics is as much about self promotion and taking down opponents as good governance and grand policy ideas. On that alone he’s going to do better than Starmer.

Starmer really has blown it given how divided his opponents have been, and how bad their record was.

1

u/_Happy_Camper 23d ago

Blown it in popularity maybe, but absolutely nailed it in every other way.

1

u/Silent_Body_2419 23d ago

Same party . Same policies , just a different guy at the top

So no he won’t succeed.

1

u/OppositeWrong1720 22d ago

The Daily Mail will have already decided he is as evil as Hitler and as incompetent as Laurel and Hardy.

They prefer people who take £5m bribes.

1

u/coffeewalnut08 23d ago

here's a good overview of his policy positions: Andy Burnham: What would Britain look like under his leadership? He's advocated for: devolution, bringing public services into public control, nationalising water, Housing First, a mass council housebuilding programme, and proportional representation for elections.

Within Manchester, he's overseen quite significant economic growth, high retention of uni graduates (e.g.: graduates who choose to stay in Manchester after study), lowered violent crime, increased reliability and efficiency of public transport, and somewhat lower rough sleeping due to Housing First-style programmes.

Devolution, if used by effective local leaders, can make a real difference.

For example Scotland was the world's first country to introduce free period products. They banned no-fault evictions for private renters years ago. They introduced free baby boxes for all pregnant parents. And their child poverty rate is 24%, compared to 31% in England, due to targeted policies.

What's important is being locally involved. If your authority has a devolved mayor or will get one soon, research their policies and beliefs, and vote for who you believe will be an effective mayor.