Andy Burnham, the King of the North, the father of Manchesterism, and now – following a whirlwind coronation – the UK’s fifth prime minister in four years. Looking remarkably at ease for a man who has just been handed responsibility for the country, Burnham offered little detail in his first speech outside No 10. The substance was left for another day, though we should not have to wait long: his much-anticipated 10-year plan for Britain is due tomorrow. 

As we begin to hear who will be filling many of the top posts in this new government, we should quickly get a clearer picture of how the Burnham administration plans to tackle the many challenges currently facing the British food system.

The first clue could come from what Burnham means when he talks about giving people more “breathing space” in the cost of living crisis. Reports suggest he is considering some radical interventions in the energy and water markets to help drive down prices.

But is he prepared to be similarly radical for food?

Food and farming

Burnham’s speech earlier this month put food and farming in the same camp as steel, defence, and energy, as forms of “sovereign manufacturing” in need of safeguarding. That gave some the impression he saw agri-food as a “strategic national industry”.

But as Sustain CEO Kath Dalmeny wrote in The Grocer last week, Burnham has not shown that he has the same kind of appetite for making an intervention in food as he has in other industries, despite the fact that “the same fragility he wants to fix there runs straight through our food system too”.

Perhaps one reason is food’s relative lack of prominence in the national conversation, especially when compared with energy and water. Food has long been a “persistent afterthought in British politics”, Dalmeny wrote. It is also far less amenable to the kind of simple, voter-friendly solutions that dominate debate elsewhere – such as Burnham’s favourite rallying cry: nationalisation.

It would certainly be a break from recent tradition if Burnham were to put food back near the top of the political agenda. And those hoping for more radical measures can perhaps take heart from Burnham’s journey that bought him to No 10.

His pitch for the top job was largely based on localism and devolution, hardly the type of policies that tend to set focus groups alight. Does this show a politician willing to follow his gut, avoid people-pleasing policies, and take on a quiet but fundamental reform of the British state?

If so, the opportunity is there to finally implement an overarching, joined-up food strategy that tackles the country’s food-induced health crisis, supports the green transition, rebuilds British farming, and makes healthy food the default choice.

It may not be an obvious vote winner, but Burnham has already shown himself to be more politically deft than Starmer. With a huge majority behind him for the next three years, will he be brave enough to go bold?

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