Andy Burnham: What is the New PM's Track Record on Energy?

After being elected leader of the UK’s Labour Party last week, Andy Burnham will move into 10 Downing Street today. He becomes the country’s seventh prime minister in the past decade.

As the MP for Makerfield, Andy served in the UK Government as Secretary of State for Health and Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport during Gordon Brown’s time as Prime Minister (2007-2010).

His popularity with UK voters and Labour Party members grew during his nine years as Mayor of Greater Manchester (May 2017 to June 2026) in North West England.

This rise in support helped him replace Sir Keir Starmer as Prime Minister.

Andy Burnham's energy track record as Mayor of Greater Manchester

While he was mayor, Andy helped bring Greater Manchester’s bus services back under public control and backed a major shift to zero-emission vehicles, including the roll-out of electric buses. He also linked transport reform to lower emissions and better local air quality.

He supported major investment in retrofitting public buildings and social housing, cutting heat demand and lowering energy use across the region. Greater Manchester also developed Local Area Energy Plans, giving the area a detailed roadmap for decarbonisation and future energy investment.

He also backed the Energy Innovation Agency and helped establish local energy planning as part of the region’s wider net zero strategy. Greater Manchester’s approach has been framed around local flexibility, stable policy and using regional leadership to accelerate clean power, heat networks and low-carbon infrastructure.

The region also advanced waste reuse and repair through the Renew Hub in Trafford Park, which supports circular economy goals and green skills training. Alongside this, the Greater Manchester Environment Fund supported nature recovery, carbon offset projects and peatland restoration.

What it means for Westminster

Burnham is likely to keep much of Labour’s 2024 energy agenda, including the push for clean power by 2030 and the wider plan to cut bills through lower-cost domestic renewables. Labour’s published clean energy mission says the party wants a zero-carbon electricity system by 2030.

That broader agenda also includes scaling up onshore wind, solar and offshore wind, while speeding up planning and grid connections for new infrastructure. Labour has also tied clean energy to energy security, jobs and lower household bills.

Some expect Burnham to move more quickly on household bill reform. Recent reporting says his team is examining proposals that would shift policy costs off electricity bills, reduce gas standing charges and make heat pumps cheaper to run than gas boilers.

There is also speculation that he may revisit the question of North Sea drilling, especially around Rosebank and Jackdaw, although that would risk friction with climate campaigners and parts of his own party.

Since the 2024 election, the UK Government has also set up Great British Energy in Scotland to invest in clean power and new technologies with private-sector partners. Burnham’s support for regional decision-making could help channel some of that investment into community energy projects, local authorities and co-operatives.

Energy a theme in Burnham's to-do list

Ahead of his official appointment as Prime Minister, Rosie Downes, Head of Campaigns at Friends of the Earth, said: “Since winning Makerfield, Andy Burnham has repeatedly acknowledged that his rise to power is Labour’s final chance to rebuild trust with voters who are demanding change they can feel in their immediate lives.

“But he must not make the same mistake as his predecessor by failing to communicate – and at times recognise – how solutions for tackling the climate and nature crises underpin any strategy for easing hardship, raising living standards and building a fairer, greener Britain.

“In the midst of an unprecedented summer of deadly heat, anything short of rejecting disastrous projects like Rosebank, Jackdaw and a third runway at Heathrow and failing to bring forward an all-encompassing fracking ban, would see the new Prime Minister turning his back on precisely the communities he has sworn to help. He must stand firm or risk undermining his credibility straight out of the gate.

“We’ve seen the success he had as Greater Manchester Mayor in increasing bus use through affordable fares – this is something he should replicate nationally by introducing a £1 bus fare cap.

“Alongside this, lowering energy bills through cheap, homegrown renewable power and a new social tariff to help those on the lowest incomes, bringing water back into public ownership so we’re no longer paying through the nose just for water companies to trash our rivers and seas, and ensuring he follows through with concrete action on Palestine – including a full arms embargo on Israel and a trade ban with illegal settlements – should all be top of his priority list.”

“As one of the country's largest industrial regions, the North West is already leading the way in advanced manufacturing, energy, chemicals and low-carbon innovation ”

'A significant moment for the North of England'

Jane Gaston, CEO of Net Zero North West – one of the region’s leading voices on industrial growth, investment and the clean energy transition – believes Andy’s appointment presents a significant opportunity to put the North’s industrial strengths at the heart of national energy policy.

"Andy Burnham's appointment as Prime Minister is a significant moment for the North of England," she says.

"Throughout his time as Mayor of Greater Manchester, he has consistently championed the role of regional leadership in driving economic growth, investment and regeneration. There is now an opportunity to bring that same understanding of place to national policy," Jane adds.

"Our recent Why Industry Matters report demonstrates just how strategically important the North West is to the UK's future prosperity. As one of the country's largest industrial regions, the North West is already leading the way in advanced manufacturing, energy, chemicals and low-carbon innovation.

"Building on those strengths will be essential if the UK is to improve productivity, strengthen energy resilience and remain internationally competitive.

"The region has the expertise, industrial capability and collaborative partnerships needed to deliver the next phase of the UK's clean energy transition. What businesses need now is confidence that long-term policy will match long-term investment decisions.

"Stable policy, faster infrastructure delivery and continued support for industrial decarbonisation will help unlock private investment and ensure opportunities are realised at pace."