When Andy Burnham walked into Downing Street on July 20 as the UK’s seventh prime minister in a decade, he promised to act as a “circuit-breaker for Britain”. Burnham is the first UK premier to come straight from running a major city region. Used well, that experience could transform the UK’s response to the climate and nature crises.
As mayor of Greater Manchester, Burnham brought buses back under public control for the first time in 40 years through the Bee Network, with a commitment to a zero-emission fleet by 2030. He backed the city region’s target of carbon neutrality by 2038, 12 years ahead of the UK’s national goal, and in 2025 Greater Manchester signed a five-year partnership with the manufacturer Daikin to scale up heat pumps across the city.
