Andy Burnham breaks silence on Labour leadership with very Left-wing new policy | Politics | News

The so-called “King in the North” is seen as the favorite to save Labor after its disastrous local election defeat by Nigel Farage’s Reform UK and replace Sir Keir Starmer as prime minister. However, he faces a tough test to win the June 18 elections; Reform won all council seats in the region earlier this month and is seen as the favourite. Speaking for the first time since confirming he would stand out for Makerfield on Channel 4 News, Mr Burnham said Britain needed a “completely different path”.

When asked what this should be, he indicated a much more radical Left agenda than Sir Keir.

“Put more things like energy, housing, water, transportation under stronger public control,” he said bluntly.

Noting his actions on buses in Greater Manchester, he said he was “the first to do it” and helped make them more affordable with £2 tickets.

He railed against former Tory prime minister Margaret Thatcher for deregulating Manchester’s buses, saying: “They only worked for private shareholders, not the paying public.”

He added: “You take that principle and apply it to energy, you apply it to water – that’s what we need to do.

“The country took away control of the basic things that people need every day, and that was a big mistake in my view.”

He told The Guardian last year: “I will say this in the long term, I want to rejoin. I hope to see this country rejoin the European Union in my lifetime.”

But his long-standing pro-EU stance could prove hugely controversial in a Brexit-supporting constituency where Reform Britain is expected to go all-out in the by-election.