Angela Rayner Backs Andy Burnham Devolution Plan in July 1 Speech

Angela Rayner stated on 1 July 2026 that the next prime minister must go further in giving power to communities and backed Andy Burnham's vision for devolution. In a speech delivered that day, she said the Labour government under Sir Keir Starmer has too often left the impression that it was defending the status quo rather than challenging it.

Rayner argued it is a time for boldness, adding that Labour would not defeat the challenge from Nigel Farage's Reform UK with caution.

BBC News reported that Rayner cited moves to give English regional mayors the power to charge tourists a tax for staying overnight in their areas. She raised transport, children's social care and derelict buildings as areas in which mayors should be backed to deliver.

Rayner said Whitehall empires hoard their own power and called for rewiring England by devolving power and money to the country as a whole.

Darren Jones said he liked the idea of No 10 North put forward by Burnham. Jones urged Sir Keir's successor to strengthen the centre by creating a department for the prime minister in London. He spoke at the Remaking the State conference in London and repeated his January plan to rewire Whitehall by reducing bureaucratic checks and setting up taskforces.

Andy Burnham is the favourite to replace Sir Keir Starmer as prime minister. Sir Keir resigned last week, and the Labour leadership contest is scheduled to conclude later this month. Burnham launched his bid in a speech on Monday and said he wanted to redistribute power across the UK to drive good growth in every postcode.

He said Whitehall civil servants had blocked progress in Greater Manchester. An article co-authored by Patrick Diamond criticised Jones's focus on delivery teams as heavily centralising. Burnham has yet to set out how his plan to bring about the biggest rebalancing of power the country has ever seen would work alongside Jones's reformed Whitehall.