Commentary
Dear Andy, please don’t do this
An open letter to Greater Manchester Mayor and Makerfield Parliamentary candidate Andy Burnham from Jeremy Hinds.
Dear Andy,
I want you to stay.
I know why you are going. I understand the pull of Westminster, the leadership contest, the sense that this is the moment. And I know that for someone who has spent a political lifetime arguing that power should come home to the North, the chance to lead from the top must feel like the culmination of everything.
But I am asking you to think again.
You said something in Leeds this week that has stayed with me. You said that Britain needs “a serious rewiring.” You said we cannot go on with “a bloated national state and a malnourished local one.” You said it is time to trust the regions, to free them up, to let them get on with the job. I agree with every word. So does almost everyone in this city who has watched what you have built here over the past nine years.
The problem is what happens next.
If you win Makerfield, you must resign as Mayor. That resignation creates a mayoral by-election in Greater Manchester. And that by-election will take place in a city where Reform UK just won every single council ward across the Makerfield constituency, with around fifty percent of the vote.
Reform will fight Makerfield with everything they have. Beating you personally, on your own ground, in the North, would be the greatest scalp they have ever taken. They may well lose. Your personal standing here is real and the polls reflect it. But a defeat in Makerfield will not deflate them. It will direct them, with purpose and momentum, straight toward the Greater Manchester mayoral by-election that your departure will have made necessary.
And then consider where that leaves you.
You are Labour leader, perhaps Prime Minister. You have promised maximum devolution. More powers, more fiscal autonomy, more trust in city regions to deliver. And the Mayor of Greater Manchester is from Reform UK, sitting in a building you helped create, with a mandate you helped hand him.
You said you want to trust the regions. You said you want to free them up. Would you free that one up? Could you?
I am not questioning your intentions. I am asking about the situation itself. The devolution agenda you have spent your career building would arrive at exactly the moment you would find it hardest to deliver it.
There is another way.
Stay as Mayor. Support whoever wins the leadership. Your voice in that contest, as the person who has actually made devolution work, as the most trusted figure the Labour movement has, will carry more weight than a parliamentary seat. Any new leader will need you. They will need what you represent to the North, to the combined authorities, to the people who have been waiting decades for Westminster to loosen its grip. And they will need to honour the devolution agenda, because you will still be here, holding them to it.
That is not a consolation prize. That is real power, in the place where you have earned it.
You said the country needs a serious rewiring. I believe you. Stay and make sure it happens.
Dear Andy, please think again.
Jeremy Hinds
I agree with this… Burnham moving on from Manchester would be a blow for the regions growth and potentially a career ending decision for Burnham. Nationally the labour ship has already sunk i cant see one person saving it. We could also end up with a Reform mayor within months. No one wins out of this.
By DS
Not like you to be so unambitious Jeremy ! Isn’t the point that there are still limits to what a Mayor can do and most of the key decisions that impact Greater Manchester and its communities are still made in London. Having a leader in Westminster who understands the North is the only way to maintain momentum and make further long term real change. Too many communities are still struggling too much. Yes, the consequential Mayoral election will be tough without the “Burnham Factor” but this should mobilise people to fight for a continuation of Manchesterism. This includes the property industry making the case and fully engaging in the political process. We can’t remain as touchline, anxious observers!
By JK
Totally disagree. It would be great for the North to have a Northern Prime Minister and it would be exactly the stimulus that the Labour party needs. It’s also codswallop that reform would walk a mayoral election – they will scramble around for a candidate and it’s a very different election to local council elections which is always a protest vote.
By John W
DS is right, as is Jeremy Hinds. Manchester could be in the hands of Reform, which means if he is PM, he will be dealing with hostile forces, in the place he loves. Reform is Thatcher plus plus plus, they cut everything and the irony will be the rest of the country will benefit from Manchesterism, whilst Manchester doesn’t.
By Elephant
Spot on DS this government is finished
By Bob
Dear Jeremy,
I couldn’t agree more.
By David Artingstall
Very well structured and reflective of what many of us are probably thinking. massive risk and for what reward?
Look at local councils where Reform have “stepped in” making decisions on the hoof and some feeling like retaliatory muscle flexing, with little to no understanding of the ramifications of such decisions. Do we really want this?
By Anonymous
Interesting thoughts. Thank you.
By Anonymous
Burnham has no interest in Manchester, only in himself
By The Blob
I don’t know Manchesterism is supposed to be, all I know is the city is getting rougher and dirtier.
By Anonymous
…and you think a Reform majority will be good for Manchester?
Because that’s what we’re looking at otherwise.
By Anonymous
I agree with most of what you say .If Andy wins through to his ultimate goal I believe it is a poisoned chalice .To be leader of the Labour Party at the moment would be toxic and his career within this most unpopular party will suffer .
By Canadaboygb
With far-right extremists gaining ground, this is exactly the wrong time for Labour to be split, and to force a by-election and a mayoral election. Andy should do the job he was elected to do – he does it very well.
By Francis
Maybe if Burnham steps into the hot seat he’ll realise that there’s more to government than splashing the cash on yellow buses and using public money to subsidise unaffordable towers in central Manchester. His talk of a bloated state mirrors much of the false rhetoric of his Reform opponents. There’s no quick and simple solutions to our national economic decline.
By Anonymous
Far rights extremists?! ..’anyone who doesn’t agree with me and vote Labour’ what a retrograde argument and one that’s already been seen through by so many people hence the recent election results. Change the record or you’ll find the country will changing the government.
By Anonymous
Starmer is finished. But this government has another 3 years before the next election. Like the Tories Labour will change leader but not give up power until they have to. Burnham as mayor can only tinker around the edges, makes the buses yellow etc. he hasn’t got the power to make the multi billion investments that northern cities need to catch up with London, eg building new cross city railways. As prime minister with real power he can take the decisions that successive (Tory and Labour) governments have avoided. Put real London style money into northern cities. If he properly starts the ball rolling then he also sets the trap for Reform, are they just a London party or will they properly invest in the north also? So good luck to Burnham i think the gamble is worth it and i hope it pays off.
By Anonymous