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What does the South make of the King of the North?

BBC South has been hearing from people about new PM Andy Burnham’s first week in the top job.

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July 25, 2026
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What does the South make of the King of the North?

Image source, Reuters

ByTiffany RowlandsSouth of England

Published12 minutes ago

The start of the week saw a transition of power in Westminster, with Andy Burnham replacing Sir Keir Starmer to become leader of the Labour Party and the UK’s 59th prime minister.

Before we had time to really think about it, he was off and running. His goal? To help people with the cost of living.

He has announced new measures, from cutting VAT on electricity bills to a £2 cap on bus fares.

BBC South has been speaking to people in parts of the south of England to find out what they think about the man who earned the nickname King of the North during his previous tenure as Mayor of Greater Manchester.

‘It’s a start’

A young woman with dark long hair pulled back in a ponytail smiles into the camera. She is standing in front of a white paneled door and is wearing a top with narrow white and black stripes and has a nose ring.

On his second day in the job, Burnham announced his first new measure, cutting the VAT from electricity bills, which the government says will save a typical household about £45 a year.

Despite questions within his party about where the money would come from, voters in the South the BBC spoke to have reacted positively to the announcement.

Mum Connie Cole, from Portsmouth, said people desperately need more help with the cost of living and welcomed the government help.

“I think it’s better for young mums, people in need, to cut the VAT, cut the energy bills,” she said.

“It’s £45 [saving], I think we could get a little bit more maybe but [it’s] £45 we didn’t have. I think its something, it’s a start.”

Wednesday marked day three of the new government and the PM was at it again with another new announcement.

Bus fares to be capped at £2, paid for by reprioritising government funds. It was a move broadly welcomed by people in the South we spoke to.

‘Promising start’

By Thursday, Burnham’s attention had turned to businesses, announcing a 20% cut to rates for pubs and small live music venues.

Aidan Lavin co-owns the Raven and Bine pub in Southampton and said: “It’s a promising start from the new prime minister, however, I fear it’s nothing even close to enough.

“The increasing pressure from VAT to business rates to an increased minimum wage, it just feels like the walls are closing in from all angles.”

Lavin said he believes that without further measures, businesses across the South would not survive.

“It’s coming to a point now where we are going to lose some of our inns and taverns, never to be returned,” he told the BBC.

On Friday, Burnham headed to Manchester to spend his first day working at No 10 North, a new regional branch of the PM’s office.

It is part of a move to shift power away from Whitehall and in to “every postcode”, external.

Operating from Heron House in Manchester’s city centre, No 10 North will be the government’s new situation room for growth, it was announced.

It brings the “levers of local economic growth and devolution together under one roof for the first time”, said the government.

‘Bounce in a few polls’

Professor Robert Johns smiling in front of a plain grey background

The new PM’s first week in the job has seen him make a series of interventions aimed at easing the cost of living but has he won over people in the South?

Politics professor Robert Johns, from the University of Southampton, has been analysing Burnham’s first week.

“I’d say the early signs are promising for Burnham,” he said. “There seems to be a little bounce in a few polls we’ve had and there’s no doubt that he has some of the ingredients to win over public appeal.

“The same things that have attracted Labour MPs are likely to attract voters who are left-inclined.”