Jul 9, 2026 · 59 min · 15 segments
Andy Burnham’s campaign to return to Westminster has pushed reform of the UK’s constitution up the political agenda. This expert panel steps back from the fast-moving political fallout of the…
Catherine HaddonPanelist
Frances FoleyPanelist
Lisa JamesPanelist
Thanks for turning up on such a a hot day to talk about constitutional reform, which for a lot of us in the room, who've been working on this for a long time, can feel like something that's never really relevant, but always relevant.
But I feel particularly at this current juncture, there's a lot of interest and excitement about it, including from all of you on the call.
And I think it is appropriate that there is that excitement because I think this could be a big moment for the UK in terms of constitutional and political changes.
So I'm going to say something really briefly about each of the areas that Andy Burnham has discussed over the last few years, in fact.
And I think that's what I'll start with by saying that Andy Burnham isn't a recent convert to kind of constitutional and political reform.
And I'll say a little bit about why I think that political journey is important for what we might be going to see next.
We can definitely go in deeper with your questions and the conversation we might have.
And I'm going to cover four areas, which will be the areas you expect I will cover.
So, I mean, of course, the evolution, anybody who's joined this call knows that Andy Burnham, that is his thing.
I'm also going to briefly cover electoral reform, House of Lords and changing culture at Westminster, which I think is actually the most interesting, but perhaps under interrogated as part of his agenda.
And the first thing I would say, apart from the fact that I think Andy Burnham is a genuine believer in this, is also that I think he is one of the most coherent thinkers on this in terms of elected politicians that we've seen in the UK for a long time.
As will become clear as I just go through each of those individual points, I think all of these reforms that he has spoken about and is hoping to bring forth kind of consolidate and reinforce one another.
And I think they add up to a vision of politics being quite different one, which he stresses more about collaboration rather than competition about cross party working about internal parties.
And I think that goes with the grain of the kind of culture that he's wanting to bring into Westminster.
And I think it's very notable that this is the first time we've had somebody come from Westminster out to take a significant mayoral position and has actually increased the power and prestige and status and, in fact, actual powers of that position and then return to Westminster.
Thanks for turning up on such a a hot day to talk about constitutional reform, which for a lot of us in the room, who've been working on this for a long time, can feel like something that's never really relevant, but always relevant.
But I feel particularly at this current juncture, there's a lot of interest and excitement about it, including from all of you on the call.
And I think it is appropriate that there is that excitement because I think this could be a big moment for the UK in terms of constitutional and political changes.
So I'm going to say something really briefly about each of the areas that Andy Burnham has discussed over the last few years, in fact.
And I think that's what I'll start with by saying that Andy Burnham isn't a recent convert to kind of constitutional and political reform.
And I'll say a little bit about why I think that political journey is important for what we might be going to see next.
We can definitely go in deeper with your questions and the conversation we might have.
And I'm going to cover four areas, which will be the areas you expect I will cover.
So, I mean, of course, the evolution, anybody who's joined this call knows that Andy Burnham, that is his thing.
I'm also going to briefly cover electoral reform, House of Lords and changing culture at Westminster, which I think is actually the most interesting, but perhaps under interrogated as part of his agenda.
And the first thing I would say, apart from the fact that I think Andy Burnham is a genuine believer in this, is also that I think he is one of the most coherent thinkers on this in terms of elected politicians that we've seen in the UK for a long time.
As will become clear as I just go through each of those individual points, I think all of these reforms that he has spoken about and is hoping to bring forth kind of consolidate and reinforce one another.
And I think they add up to a vision of politics being quite different one, which he stresses more about collaboration rather than competition about cross party working about internal parties.
And I think that goes with the grain of the kind of culture that he's wanting to bring into Westminster.
And I think it's very notable that this is the first time we've had somebody come from Westminster out to take a significant mayoral position and has actually increased the power and prestige and status and, in fact, actual powers of that position and then return to Westminster.
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