As we’ve reported, Andy Burnham is a politician with many, many faults. Despite this, there was hope Burnham could be used as a vehicle to get some decent policies implemented. As it turns out, though, Burnham has already backed down on one of the policies which made him worth voting for:
BREAKING | Andy Burnham confirms he will NOT scrap first-past-the-post before #GE2029
Burnham said electoral reform must be “in a manifesto”, and revealed he does NOT back proportional representation, instead praising the non-proportional Supplementary Vote (SV)
Via @itvnews pic.twitter.com/wO40XxnR4K
— Stats for Lefties
(@LeftieStats) May 17, 2026
Going off this logic, it’s realistic to think Burnham could also back away from renationalising key utilities and industries.
Proportional Representation
Before we get into what Burnham said, we should explain what he was talking about.
In the UK, we operate under the ‘First Past the Post’ (FPTP) electoral system. As the Electoral Reform Society reports, this is at odds with most other democracies, which use some form of proportional representation.
Under FPTP, constituencies vote for their MP, with the winner in each constituency taking a seat in Parliament. The following graph demonstrates how FPTP can lead to results which don’t match how the country voted:
As you can see, Labour achieved nearly two thirds of the seats in parliament with only around a third of the votes. Clearly, then, this isn’t democratic.
The society adds:
Westminster’s First Past the Post voting system usually allows parties to form a government on their own. But, these governments may only have the support of 35 percent (Labour 2005), a record low, or 37 percent (Conservative 2015) of the country.
Westminster’s voting system creates two sorts of areas. ‘Safe seats’, with such a low chance of changing hands that there is no point in campaigning, and ‘swing seats’, that could change hands.
As parties want to get as many MPs as possible, parties prioritise voters who might change their minds who live in swing seats. Parties design their manifestos to appeal to voters in swing seats, and spend the majority of their funds campaigning in them.
The alternative is proportional representation (PR), with the Electoral Reform society writing:
Proportional representation (PR) is not a voting system in itself. Instead, it’s the idea that seats in parliament should reflect the proportion of votes cast; something which can be achieved through a variety of electoral systems.
As such, there’s not just one way that PR works. But it’s possible to understand what it might look like if it were implemented across Britain by getting to grips with the nuts and bolts of the different types of voting systems which do establish proportional representation.
The PR options they list include:
- Single Transferable Vote (STV).
- Additional Members System (AMS).
- Party List Proportional Representation.
Burnham getting his excuses in
In the clip at the top, Burnham says:
I stood for Westminster four times under the first past the post system and then in 2017 when I stood for the first time to be Mayor of Greater Manchester under a proportional system, I realised that you had an incentive to knock on every door because you might be able to get a second preference from somebody who was a Lib Dem voter or a Green.
And I used to say to them, ‘oh, well, OK, if you support regulation of the buses, maybe you could consider giving me a second preference?’ And the thing about that was it finally aligned the conversation on the doorstep with what people want from politics, which is about problem-solving first and foremost not point scoring and you know for me you know building a different political conversation in the country then allows us to start thinking of different long-term solutions.
I think Westminster politics has served people very badly indeed.
As Stats for Lefties noted, Supplementary Vote (SV) isn’t one of the systems that is traditionally classed as ‘proportional’. On their site, the Electoral Reform Society rank it as follows:
Of course, the fact that Burnham used SV in Greater Manchester doesn’t necessarily mean it would be his preferred system for the country (he wasn’t the guy who introduced it, after all). The question is whether he’d seek to introduce proportional representation in this parliament, and we now have an answer to that.
When asked if he was talking about “electoral reform”, Burnham said:
I support it and I think it brings a different conversation. But that, to then go on to answer your question, would require it to be in a manifesto and endorsed at a general election.
This is consequential, because the Green Party was talking about standing down in the Makerfield by-election based on the idea that Burnham would introduce PR if he wins and becomes PM.
Greens standby
This is what Greens leader Zack Polanski said on potentially standing down to give Burnham a better shot at winning against Reform:
Last week’s elections shows the country is crying out for a break from the failed status quo. Keir Starmer has been unable and unwilling to break with an economic model that has fuelled the affordability crisis and this is why we have said he must go. Whatever happens in the coming by-election, Andy Burnham will need to make clear which version of him is going to show up.
Is it the politician who has been part and parcel of the Labour establishment for decades, abstaining on legislation making brutal cuts to welfare, PFI and other Labour privatisations?
Or is it the one who has publicly supported proportional representation, been a popular Mayor in Manchester and expressed support to make changes to the failed economic model.
The country needs to know if Andy Burnham is serious about breaking out from the terrible orthodoxies from the past, or if he will just be more of the same.
Now, it seems, we have an answer.
Burnham can say he supports PR and will campaign for it in future, but why would anyone believe a Labour politician at this point? And as some Green supporters are now saying:
Greens must run and take the seat. If @AndyBurnhamGM offers no shift in the electoral system, it means no deal. And there’s no point arguing this will “let in Reform” –– Reform will win due to our electoral system, regardless of who’s prime minister for the next 3 years. https://t.co/ilKMAgK3qU
— Philip Proudfoot (@PhilipProudfoot) May 17, 2026
There’s more to this too. Burnham has spoken about renationalising key utilities and industries. Is this something he’d do if he replaces Starmer, or would that require a general election too?
It seems to us that unless Burnham makes bold, dramatic moves like ending the privatisation scam, there’s no chance he’ll win the next election. As such, why should we care if he wins the Makerfield by-election, when he’s already suggesting nothing significant will change until 2029?
Burnham — no easy ride
Former Greens leader Caroline Lucas actually called for her party to stand down before they’d secured any guarantees from Burnham:
I hope this isn’t true. There are times when it’s more important to put country before party. This is one of them. Burnham’s longstanding commitment to a fairer voting system could transform our democracy & counter dire threat of a Reform UK government https://t.co/PNfl5GnB0X
— Caroline Lucas (@CarolineLucas) May 15, 2026
With all respect to Lucas, this demonstrates why the Green Party hasn’t traditionally been very good at politics.
Polanski might not get Burnham to commit to PR, but if he doesn’t, he can certainly make Burnham regret that decision – especially when the polling is this tight:
NEW | Burnham narrowly leads in Makerfield
Lab: 45% (-)
Ref: 42% (+10)
Source: @Survation estimate, 15 May 2026
—
+/- vs 2024 general election pic.twitter.com/wwgueC9uDP— Stats for Lefties
And as we now know, the Greens will be contending the seat:
Despite Caroline Lucas urging the party to step aside and endorse Starmer’s Labour Party, a Green spokesperson said the selection process has begun.
“We’ve shown we can beat Reform” they added.
(Via @Telegraph) pic.twitter.com/E0jcD3X43C
— Stats for Lefties
People are tired of Labour politicians failing to deliver, and Andy Burnham may be about to find out just how tired they are.
Featured image via Getty Images (Christopher Furlong)
By Willem Moore
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