--- title: "He who cares, wins: Burnham's speech unpacked" description: Andy Burnham began his first Labour conference speech as Prime Minister by promising delegates a “real speech”. In terms of presentation, he delivered one. In terms of policy, the picture was rather less clear. image: https://truenorth.scot/hubfs/Andy%20Burnham.png --- [Skip to content](https://truenorth.scot/news/he-who-cares-wins-burnhams-speech-unpacked#main-content) [![TN DARK BLUE](https://truenorth.scot/hs-fs/hubfs/TN%20DARK%20BLUE.png?width=3174&height=602&name=TN%20DARK%20BLUE.png "TN DARK BLUE")](https://truenorth.scot) [![True-North-New-Logo-Vector-Master-Rev-1](https://truenorth.scot/hubfs/True-North-New-Logo-Vector-Master-Rev-1.svg)](https://truenorth.scot) - [Our Services](https://truenorth.scot/our-services) - [PR & Communications](https://truenorth.scot/pr-and-communications) - [Policy & Public Affairs](https://truenorth.scot/policy-and-public-affairs) - [Marketing](https://truenorth.scot/marketing) - [Content Studio](https://truenorth.scot/content-studio) - [Branding](https://truenorth.scot/branding) - [Events Management](https://truenorth.scot/events-management) - [Media Training](https://truenorth.scot/media-training) - [Our Work](https://truenorth.scot/our-work) - [Our Team](https://truenorth.scot/team) - [About Us](https://truenorth.scot/about) - [True Stories](https://truenorth.scot/events/true-stories) - [News](https://truenorth.scot/news) - [Contact Us](https://truenorth.scot/contact) Search - There are no suggestions because the search field is empty. [Andrew Liddle, Head of Government Relations](https://truenorth.scot/news/author/andrew-liddle-senior-advisor) Sep 29, 2026, 5:33:58 PM # He who cares, wins: Burnham's speech unpacked Andy Burnham began his first Labour conference speech as Prime Minister by promising delegates a “real speech”. In terms of presentation, he delivered one. In terms of policy, the picture was rather less clear. Burnham’s central political argument was that Britain needed to “take back control” of its economy, public services and ultimately its political system. Yet the speech also demonstrated the constraints within which the new Prime Minister is operating. Tight public finances, weak growth and a volatile international environment leave considerably less room for manoeuvre than the rhetoric of a decisive break from 40-years of neoliberalism might suggest. That bind was reflected in several of the speech’s most eye-catching announcements. Burnham promised to set out options for a closer long-term relationship with the European Union, arguing that Brexit had done “more harm than good”. He also announced a new national commission on electoral reform, with Labour set to enter the next election committed to changing the voting system. Both measures are an attempt to build clearer dividing lines with opposition parties – particularly Reform UK and the Conservatives – but crucially come with no cost to the public finances.   Similarly, the new Great British Grid will give the state a direct role in electricity infrastructure, with start-up costs coming from Great British Energy’s existing budget and a remit to support connections and compete for some future transmission projects. Even this decision is not without controversy, with critics arguing this could stretch GBE funding across priorities such as offshore wind, while doing little to ease shortages of cables, transformers, and other key components in a sector where significant private capital is already available. The major exception was social care. Burnham committed Labour to creating a national care system, free at the point of use, in the next Parliament. In doing so, he also provided the beginnings of an answer to the question that has defeated successive governments around how to pay for it. After the next election, Labour will remove average earnings from the pension triple-lock, meaning they will only rise by 2.5 per cent or inflation, with the resulting savings helping fund the new service. Elsewhere, however, difficult questions remain unanswered. On North Sea oil and gas, Burnham repeated his promise of a more “pragmatic” approach, but his speech shed little light on what that pragmatism means in practice. Where Burnham was most convincing was stylistically. Speaking from an autocue but without a lectern, his strongest passage was intensely personal. Discussing his late father’s influence on his politics, the Prime Minister became visibly emotional and was forced to pause during his remarks. He also took aim at John Swinney, becoming fired-up by the First Minister’s recent suggestion Burnham would be “the last Prime Minister of the United Kingdom”. For Labour MPs exhausted by the more wooden political presentation of the Starmer years, that change of tone will matter. Burnham promised a “real speech” and, in terms of performance, largely gave one. But, despite speaking for well over an hour, the bigger question – whether Burnham can turn a clear change of style into an equally clear change of substance – remains unanswered. 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