The latest updates<\/p>\n
Andy Burnham could become the new Labour leader and UK prime minister\u00a0<\/p>\n
the Mayor of Greater Manchester has pledged business rates reform and a review of thresholds for small firms<\/p>\n
Keir Starmer resigned on 22 June 2026 following Andy Burnham\u2019s win in the Makerfield by-election\u00a0<\/p>\n
no other MPs have put their name forward, so Burnham looks likely to become prime minister on 20 July\u00a0<\/p>\n
Burnham\u2019s speech on 29 June focused on devolution, economic reform, and support for entrepreneurs\u00a0<\/p>\n
Andy Burnham sets out his policies under Labour as all signs point to him becoming the next prime minister as soon as next month.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In an address to an audience of MPs and mayors in Manchester, the Makerfield MP focused on a \u2018devolved North\u2019. He wants to rebalance power and create a Number 10 office in Manchester.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But what could a new prime minister mean for small businesses and the self-employed? And what was in Andy Burnham\u2019s first major policy speech that you need to know. We cover the key takeaways here.\u00a0<\/p>\n
What was in Andy Burnham\u2019s speech for small businesses?<\/p>\n
Andy Burnham delivered a speech in Manchester on 29 June and set out his vision for the country if he\u2019s to become British prime minister.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He\u2019s promised to stick within the government\u2019s rules on government debt and spending. But the details of how his plans could be funded haven\u2019t been announced.\u00a0<\/p>\n
These are key areas you need to pay attention to as a small business owner, based on analysis of his speech and byelection pledges:\u00a0<\/p>\n
1. Regional investment and devolution<\/p>\n
Burnham is a vocal champion of devolution \u2013 pushing power and money away from Westminster and towards local areas. He\u2019s talked about \u2018Manchesterism\u2019 and wanting to rebalance power away from the London centre.\u00a0<\/p>\n
For small business owners outside London, this could mean more accessible local funding, better transport infrastructure, and stronger regional support networks.<\/p>\n
2. Business rates review<\/p>\n
While not specifically mentioned in his speech, Burnham has previously spoken of business rates reform when campaigning for re-election as an MP in Mackerfield.\u00a0<\/p>\n
One of his byelection pledges included cutting business rates by 20% for pubs, clubs, and music venues next year \u2013 this is a more generous cut than the Treasury\u2019s existing plan of 15%<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n Burnham has also said he\u2019d consider cutting employers\u2019 National Insurance and lowering the threshold for paying business rates for small, independent hospitality, leisure, and retail businesses.\u00a0<\/p>\n 3. \u201cGood Growth Funds\u201d<\/p>\n Burnham wants the government to help all regions establish \u201cGood Growth Funds\u201d (modeled after Greater Manchester) to consolidate public and private investment locally, making funding more accessible for local start-ups and scale-ups.<\/p>\n 4. Innovation and industry<\/p>\n We could see more support for start-ups and creatives. Burnham specifically said he wants to back\u00a0 \u201cscientists, technologists, entrepreneurs, and creatives\u201d and turn the UK into an \u201cInnovation Nation.\u201d<\/p>\n When will we get a new prime minister?<\/p>\n Andy Burnham could become the new British prime minister on 20 July 2026.\u00a0<\/p>\n If no other labour MPs put themselves forward in the leadership contest then Burnham will be uncontested and be sworn into office.\u00a0He\u2019ll also have to step down from his current position as Mayor of Greater Manchester. <\/p>\n Keir Starmer has said he\u2019ll stay in post until a new leader is confirmed.\u00a0<\/p>\n Why this moment matters for small business owners<\/p>\n Political transitions create uncertainty \u2013 and uncertainty is expensive for small businesses. Tax policy, business rates, employment law, and VAT thresholds can all shift with a change in leadership.<\/p>\n Sign up to our newsletter<\/a> to keep up to date on changing policies and how this could affect your small business. It\u2019s also a good idea to review your financial plans and discuss with a professional if any policy changes could impact how you run your business.<\/p>\n Read more articles for small businesses<\/p>\n This content is for general, informational purposes only and is not intended to provide legal, tax, accounting, or financial advice. Please obtain expert advice from industry-specific professionals who may better understand your business\u2019s needs.\u00a0Read our full disclaimer<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The latest updates Andy Burnham could become the new Labour leader and UK prime minister\u00a0 the Mayor of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":664646,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[59,57,58,50,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-664645","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-united-kingdom","tag-gb","tag-great-britain","tag-greatbritain","tag-news","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/664645","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=664645"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/664645\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/664646"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=664645"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=664645"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=664645"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}