Andy Burnham will undertake a summer tour across the UK during the early weeks of his premiership.
Described as a “listening tour of the UK”, Burnham will travel across the country in August while Parliament is in recess.
Among the areas understood to be on his itinerary is Port Talbot in south Wales, a town which saw the closure of its last steel-making blast furnace in September 2024.
The former Greater Manchester mayor will become prime minister on Monday but will not face MPs until September when the Commons returns from its six-week recess, unless he decides to recall Parliament.
Several Welsh Labour MPs have told BBC Wales that they understand Burnham intends to visit Port Talbot, once home to the UK’s largest steelworks which has seen 2,800 job losses as it transitions to greener steel-making.
Some Welsh politicians have accused Labour of double standards, after it stepped in to save the British Steel plant in Scunthorpe in 2025 but did not do the same for Tata Steel’s Port Talbot plant.
There are few details as to what policies Burnham will look to implement once in No 10, but a key part of his message thus far has been about devolving power away from Westminster towards local communities.
In a speech in Manchester at the end of June, the Makerfield MP made the case for more “powers to areas undergoing industrial transition, like Port Talbot, Scunthorpe and Aberdeen”.
The Welsh Government has raised concerns that this might mean undermining devolution to Wales, with Plaid Cymru First Minister Rhun ap Iorwerth saying there were “signs” Burnham might want to bypass the Senedd and the Welsh government.
Health minister Stephen Kinnock said Burnham was “very welcome” to join him in his Aberafan Maesteg constituency, which Port Talbot falls under.
“He’ll be interested to learn about the many exciting projects that will shape our future in Aberafan Maesteg,” Kinnock added.
Some Welsh MPs have also requested that Burnham makes stops in their constituencies.
Tonia Antoniazzi, Labour MP for Gower, a peninsula in south Wales, said: “I’d love him to visit for a pint and a dip [in the sea] and hear first hand from my constituents what matters to them.”
There are reports that Burnham will also visit Aberdeen, a city at the heart of the debate around the UK’s energy future and home of GB Energy – the government’s fledgling publicly-owned energy company.
The Conservatives won the recent by-election for Aberdeen South, held on the same day as the Makerfield election which Burnham won.
Burnham will become the leader of the Labour Party on Friday, having received support from the overwhelming majority of his party’s MPs. He will replace Sir Keir Starmer as prime minister on Monday.
With Burnham entering No 10 without a general election or a leadership contest, his immediate priority will be to shore up support across the country as he sets out his vision for government.
He is also facing calls to connect to voters outside of London and the north-west of England.
Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey, who has dubbed Burnham “Avanti Andy” after the rail franchise that serves Manchester, said: “”From the Devon coast to Swansea’s streets and Shetland’s shores, people are utterly fed up with being overlooked.
“Andy Burnham has a very short window to turn this government around, end the chaos and build trust with communities the whole length and breadth of the UK.”
Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle can recall Parliament during the summer recess if asked to do so by the government, once deciding whether it is in the public interest.
The Conservatives had planned to use their scheduled opposition day debate on Wednesday to force a vote on adding one sitting day, so that MPs could question Burnham about his plans for government.
But the debate was ditched by the government so MPs could debate the ongoing crisis in the Middle East instead.
Burnham has faced calls from some within Labour to offer more details on policies he will look to implement in government.
He has also faced accusations of avoiding media scrutiny since becoming an MP and announcing his intention to stand. He has so far given interviews to LBC and Gary Lineker, while he has also hosted an online Q and A session on Reddit.
During that Q and A, Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch challenged Burnham to “come out from hiding, face a proper press conference and submit yourself to scrutiny and some tough questions”.
Burnham replied: Fair challenge Kemi – but don’t forget it’s only two weeks since I faced questions from 74,000 members of the public of Makerfield.”
Source:
www.bbc.co.uk
