Are we ready for Burnham’s Birmingham?

Dear readers — the King of the North has ascended. But what's in it for the West Midlands? Today's story is abour how our new prime minister, Andy Burnham's has big plans that could shake things up for the region.

But before that, your Brum in Brief.

Brum in Brief

🏚️ Two Labour councillors have come out all guns blazing against Birmingham city council's handling of the controversial supported exempt accommodation sector. Marcus Bernasconi (North Edgbaston) and Shuranjeet Singh (Soho and Jewellery Quarter) have claimed the authority makes it "too easy" for potential bad actors to open properties that cause problems for communities. Bernasconi even claimed that providers have identified "soft touch individuals" on the housing benefits team who will readily approve payments and that the council could be a conduit for "mass fraud". He has called for the overdue findings of an internal investigation into similar claims, conducted earlier this year, to be made public. Plus, astonishing new figures show Birmingham now has 12,166 exempt properties housing 33,904 people — the vast majority of whom have no connection to the city. (Birmingham Live, £).

🚮 Elsewhere, the council has defeated an appeal against its use of antisocial behaviour powers to remove 'to-let' signs in Selly Park and Bournbrook. (X).

📰 Haven't read Olivia's latest on the scourge of letting boards — plus the rubbish — blighting Selly Oak? Catch up here.

💼 Despite plenty of speculation, Shabana Mahmood has not been made chancellor by Andy Burnham. She was instead reappointed as home secretary by the new prime minister on Monday, promising to "finish the job" of immigration reform. (the Guardian and X).

It’s official. Andy Burnham is prime minister. And it only took 25 years, two failed Labour leadership contests, and some viral paparazzi shots of him running in very short shorts to get here. Voilà.

The implications of Burnham’s premiership for his powerbase of Greater Manchester are obvious. Since he quit Westminster to become mayor in 2017, he has steadily built up an image as the King of the North. It might have been an unforeseen pandemic and a very public spat with the Conservative government that sparked his Game of Thrones moniker (true GoT fans chide that it should be King *in* the North), but the steps taken to cement that reputation beyond the Covid years were nothing if not strategic.

That is the point of the role, after all. As our own Labour mayor Richard Parker reminded me recently over the phone: “My job is batting for the region.” And Burnham has been very good at being seen to do that, whether arguing with Boris Johnson over lockdown measures or coming out swinging for the dearly departed northern leg of HS2. 

Three weeks ago, in his first speech since announcing he would run for Labour leader, he crystalised the important role Manchester would continue to play in his story, even as he abandoned the mayoralty for a far more powerful job. Number 10 North, the stand-out announcement from that speech, will see a new outpost of Downing Street stationed smack bang in the city. It will be the epicentre of Burnham’s plans to turbo-charge devolution.

Yes, the practicalities of exactly how it will work have yet to be ironed out. But the move will see the biggest shift of powers from Whitehall to the regions ever seen. It’s the next stage in a journey in which the West Midlands has played a key role, having already secured a landmark devolution deal with Manchester, a small stepping stone to what comes next.

So, what is in store for us? Will ‘Manchesterism’ — whatever that is — work here? Or is there a risk of Birmingham losing out as our northern rival steams ahead?

‘No agency, no control, and you’re pissed off’

Although Burnham has made Greater Manchester his fiefdom, he owes a lot to two men who came before him: Richard Leese and Sir Howard Bernstein. The respective former Labour leader and chief executive of Manchester city council, laid the groundwork for the combined authority from the 1990s onwards. They are widely credited with kickstarting Manchester’s transformation from a post-industrial backwater into a modern city.

Now, our new prime minister is set to push the envelope on devolution, claiming he can spread the wealth around the regions. Britain is currently one of the most centralised countries in Europe, meaning that decisions around how much money is spent in the West Midlands and what it is spent on, are largely made in London.