I love how chaotic Manchester’s central stations are at the weekend, just a constant stream of people from other places going RIGHT LET’S GET ON IT

I've written an essay in today's FT Weekend about why - and how - people are shaking off the feeling of being "frozen" in front of a "tusnami", and beginning to fight for the future they want. as.ft.com/r/cfa87609-8... (some free clicks here!)

It is often said that a “wave” or “tsunami” of technological change is heading our way. These metaphors are powerful because they shape our sense of what is reasonable, and what is unreasonable. What does AI as a "wave" imply is a reasonable course of action? (1/...)

I am so looking forward to reading this.

This is brilliant. Jen’s pieces on Manchester should be required reading for anyone following Burnham’s progress in Makerfield and beyond

Burnham is absolutely right that much of the asylum contract provision in the north west has been a mess (came through loud and clear when I spent a lot of time looking at the state of the metropole in Blackpool last year). But www.thetimes.com/article/d9e8...

I hadn’t realised Andy Burnham had done a Tik Tok about not building on fields. He is mayor of Makerfield and his own policy prescribes building on fields, because it isn’t possible to hit housing targets any other way

Somewhat alarming LinkedIn update

I’ve seen some poorly understood summaries of the Manchester story, so I thought I’d explain what was going on when Burnham arrived, the politics of it, and a little about what’s happened since as.ft.com/r/d7e11a31-2...

Interesting he has done this vid, addressing the q “what if he goes off back down there and forgets about us”. I’ve heard that come up a fair few times so presumably he has too

I feel I should clarify for others that the dunk is on bloomberg not me.

Oh my god “Wealthy areas like the city centre” At least google some pictures of it in the 1990s

ORBIT, to be clear, not obit 🤣

The Andy Burnham orbit as.ft.com/r/f0aee3a9-0...

Found myself accidentally watching Nigella cook a spiced Bundt cake and I swear it made physically hotter

Weird feeling watching SW1/commentariat picking through the pronouncements of Andy Burnham. Read his words carefully. He sends out signals while often leaving himself space to move, sometimes to positions quite far away from the signals.

Helpfully I have the direct quote from when I asked him about it on Friday. Burnham has never said nationalisation afaik.

See also discovering, a little later, that Denbigh library had a CD collection that could and would be taped

The big govt play this week all looks very Andy Burnham to me. Free bus fares, World Cup pints, TNT (can almost hear “I like football too!” from Manchester)

Lovely bit of analysis here from the excellent @amyborrett.ft.com

Relevant to the #Makerfield by-election, some data from Ian Warren back in the Centre For Towns days - a rather familiar tale of outlying towns aging and the core of the city region getting younger.

"He will forget Makerfield" coming up repeatedly seems the biggest problem for winning, as obviously his plan is to go off and do PM work so he won't be around as much as someone else will, can't argue he will be around as much

In West Yorkshire a man convicted of ABH attempted to set up a children’s home, not one of the responsible statutory agencies undertook due diligence on him, it was a local reporter who investigated his background and exposed it that stopped him.

How vulnerable children became a gold mine for investors This piece by Chris Smyth, Alan Smith and Jennifer Williams is worth your time as.ft.com/r/b1fb6cb0-4...

Ok yeah that was indeed magical. I think I may have slightly lost my mind in there, certainly a lot of my bank balance

Another thing that occurs to me about this is that there is a *real* circus in Makerfield and it sounds like people are already getting pissed off after one week. This isn’t a place that’s used to it - the media presence is huge and it’s a not a city, is a collection of smaller communities

Well worth reading this Mixed reviews of Burnham. Two things chime with the what I heard on day one: strong brand, “personable” and “buses”; but also a concern that he’ll go down there and forget about Makerfield www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater...

Oh wow, watch the video metro.co.uk/2026/05/21/n...

Right I’ve officially hit middle age, while mulling over what to do today a friend reported going to “an amazing garden centre” near Warrington. Sold

I was the Londonist 'politics correspondent' during the Johnson mayoralty and I will say this: pay attention to the regional people who were paid to pay attention during the periods when the national media weren't paying attention.

I don’t subscribe to the new world, as I can’t subscribe to everything, so can only see what I can see in the headline and subhead. But my experience of Andy Burnham is that he is *exactly* a politician who avoids risk. It’s a defining quality

At his campaign launch, Andy Burnham indicated that he was open to radical tax reform, reflecting his longstanding view that tax should shift from income derived from work to income from wealth and assets. ft.trib.al/f7DfxVP

It is. And to an extent that’s politics, and certainly post industrial economics, because that’s how long it’s taken. What idk right now is what parts of that story would make their way into govt

And it’s really important that people understand just what has happened in GM over the last few years, and why. It’s a much more complex and nuanced story than often portrayed.

Oh meant to say, @stephenkb.bsky.social has very kindly let me commandeer his newsletter each Friday for the next few weeks for my myriad of Burnham thoughts, so you’ve been warned

I’m not going to spend my weekend posting about Burnham but The visitor levy is the only bit of fiscal devolution he and other mayors have secured. This implies that as PM he would dictate how the revenue is used, so just un-devolve it

Late posting this because this is Andy Burnham’s world and I just live in it. Some thoughts on his narratives re Greater Manchester as.ft.com/r/7b217fa9-c...

I’m sure people will tell me I’m wrong but Makerfield isn’t Gorton. Feels to me like a reasonable risk (although like many things you’ll eventually face it in the PLP when you’re prime minister)

Which leaves a lot of wiggle room

Quite disconcerting wandering round the Royal Armouries trying to find somewhere to file things, surrounded by ministers and property types, because you can forget what building you’re actually in. This just pulled me up short 🤣

My instinct is that whatever measure is being used - what investment from whom over what timeframe? - it’s a bit convenient that Makerfield (which is a constituency not a GM borough) happens to be the “lowest”

1. TRU was running on time and on budget last time I checked, Metrolink was the same 2. The plans to go underground at Piccadilly make total sense, why would you take up prime tax generating land and not futureproof your station 3. What

There was a coherent argument made here that you start it in the north Wouldn’t have had to tunnel through the chilterns and disguise air vents as farms or whatever it was they did

How will Andy Burnham pay for his plans for the UK? ft.trib.al/BAJk5jh

Have found the only place to sit and file anything at the signal and internet desert that is ukreiif, ie a rain soaked box outside the government tent, because the government has wifi. If anyone tries to move me I will fight them

Manchesterism hasn’t been the end of trickle down economics. Notwithstanding that, I bet that video burnham put out last night was really easy to shoot - still think some people who last experienced him in SW1 struggle to understand the level of popularity

This wouldn’t be where I’d land my critique tbh. Today’s speech was - and you can q the tone/audience, because on the ground it felt odd, ngl - aimed at Makerfield, and also the PLP. Both know that potholes are a major symbol of the state of the country

2/10 for effort order-order.com/2026/05/18/e...

Fair to say the reaction to Andy Burnham’s speech in Leeds - to an investment summit, of investors - was mixed. The tone was more Makerfield stump speech/Labour Party conference

Just re reading this I wrote in 2017, about six months after Burnham won his first term. May be of interest re his economic pitch, which so far relies heavily on Manchester’s city centre growth trajectory www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater...