By Andy Bruce and Elizabeth Piper
MANCHESTER, England, June 29 (Reuters) - Andy Burnham, Britain's prime minister-in-waiting, vowed on Monday to deliver radical change to the nation's politics by handing more power to its regions and encouraging collaboration over argument in a 10-year mission to spur "good" growth.
In a speech at the People's History Museum in Manchester, "one of my favourite places on earth", Burnham offered some detail of his plans if, as expected, he becomes Britain's seventh prime minister in a decade as soon as July 20.
Promising Britain's "biggest rebalancing of power", he said he would build more social housing, give local governments more control over water and other utilities and take on a cost-of-living crisis, all while sticking to the current government's fiscal rules.
To standing ovations, Burnham again said his blueprint would be based on his work as Greater Manchester mayor in northwestern England, where his focus on delivering promises meant getting businesses, local politicians and community groups involved.
And in a pointed comment to Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who said he was stepping down last week, he said he would end "the business as usual" approach to politics which he described as failing to lift the living standards of so many in the country.
BURNHAM PROMISES TO BE A CIRCUIT BREAKER
"I am going to give Britain the circuit breaker it needs by building a more collaborative politics in Westminster, by taking power out of the centre and putting it in the hands of the people and places who can use it best," he told an audience that included other regional mayors and Manchester-based lawmakers.
"Imagine good growth in every postcode and hope in every heart. Imagine no more, let's make it happen," Burnham said in a speech that appeared to be directed at countering the rise of Nigel Farage's populist Reform UK party.
In the domestically focused speech, the former mayor, making light of his decision to wear his trademark T-shirt under a suit jacket rather than a formal shirt, said his election to parliament earlier this month had convinced him that politicians had to change their approach radically.
He promised to shake up the civil service to smooth policy development, start the biggest programme of social housing building since the years following World War Two, reindustrialise the country and help young people into jobs to reduce the welfare bill.
He said he would create a 'Number 10 north' to share some of the prime minister's Downing Street operations with a team in Manchester, specifically on housing, the reform of utilities and reindustrialisation.
"It's crucial that the devolution agenda has local business at its heart and brings benefits to all parts of the UK," said Shevaun Haviland, director general of the British Chambers of Commerce. "The difficult truth is, whoever leads the UK, the primary challenge remains the same — delivering growth."
In a nod to the markets, which had some concerns Burnham would increase borrowing, Burnham said he would be able to change Britain's politics without breaking with "the stability that comes from sound public finances" or "the discipline of our current fiscal rules".
While investors welcomed the commitment, with British 10-year government borrowing costs falling slightly as he spoke, some market commentators said the speech was thin on detail and his plans would take a long time to deliver.
REFORM UK CALLS FOR NEW NATIONAL ELECTION
His words were welcomed by Labour lawmakers, including a potential rival, former health minister Wes Streeting, who has decided not to pursue a leadership challenge, making a coronation even more likely.
"Finally some hope again," said Streeting.
But the list of problems he will have to deal with is lengthy. Burnham, dubbed the King of the North, faces the same constraints as Starmer - anaemic economic growth, the rise of populist politics, a cost-of-living crisis and very little room for manoeuvre because of fiscal constraints.
Opposition parties were quick to question why Burnham had failed to take questions at his first substantial policy outing after being returned to parliament for the area of Makerfield on June 18 and doubted whether he had a plan.
"He doesn't have a plan beyond telling the mayors to go and sort it out," Kemi Badenoch, leader of the opposition Conservatives, said. "If he wants to be the leader of our country, it's time to start acting like it."
Richard Tice of Reform UK described the speech as more evidence of "Burnham's coup", referring to the lawmaker's likely elevation to power without a national vote. "We need a general election," he said on X.
(Additional reporting by Alistair Smout, Sam Tabahriti, William James, David Milliken and Michael Holden, writing by Elizabeth Piper, editing by Andrew Heavens)
