Andy Burnham’s UK Summer Tour as New Prime Minister Focuses on Industrial Transition and Regional Policy Shifts

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”, the new prime minister 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 have met the other five, although he will not face MPs until September when the Commons returns from its six-week recess, unless he decides to recall Parliament.

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.”

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