Burnham Devolution Plan…
Returns Power to Local Communities, Starting With His Own
Prat.uk Political Desk
Devolution has always been Andy Burnham’s signature cause, built on the principle that decisions should be made closer to the people they affect. The Burnham devolution plan now puts that principle into national practice, with one small refinement observers have been quick to notice: the communities receiving power first tend to be the ones that already know his name from a ballot paper.
The Geography of the Burnham Devolution Plan
According to coverage from the BBC’s Manchester desk, Greater Manchester has served for years as Burnham’s flagship model for devolved regional government, with directly elected mayoral powers over transport, housing and policing. Extending that model nationally is, on paper, a coherent and long-argued policy. In practice, the rollout schedule bears a striking resemblance to a very large regional loyalty scheme.
Under the Burnham devolution plan, Whitehall will hand powers to regional leaders, regional leaders will hand difficult decisions to public consultations, and consultations will hand responsibility to future funding reviews — a chain of delegation so smooth it’s almost impressive nobody at the end of it is actually holding anything.
A Home Counties Reading of Selective Devolution
Imagine a Prime Minister announcing a bold new era of local control, then quietly prioritising the boroughs that voted for him, while boroughs that didn’t are told their application is “still under review.” Power devolves fastest to the places already applauding.
A Manchester open-mic act, “Del the Devolution Sceptic,” joked recently: “They’re returning power to local communities. Mine got it back in about four minutes. My cousin’s in Surrey is still on hold.”
Seven Steps of the Burnham Devolution Plan Rollout
- The Pilot Region, coincidentally familiar territory.
- The Second Wave, going to regions with friendly mayors.
- The Consultation Document, distributed everywhere, read mostly nowhere.
- The Funding Formula, generous where the maps overlap conveniently.
- The Opposition Complaint, dismissed as sour grapes, quietly noted as accurate.
- The National Rollout Timeline, extending well beyond the current parliamentary term.
- The Legacy Review, held in the region that started it all.
Governance researchers at the Institute for Government have observed that devolution programmes often struggle precisely at the sequencing stage — where “who gets power first” quietly reveals whose political interests the reform was actually designed to serve.
Wordplay Interlude: Home Rule, Literally
Critics have taken to calling the scheme home rule, in the most literal sense available, while supporters insist it’s simply devolution with a head start — a phrase that manages to sound like a compliment and an admission in the same six words.
What Genuine Devolution Would Need to Prove
None of this undermines the underlying case for devolved power — regional government has real advantages when funded and sequenced fairly. The credibility test for the Burnham devolution plan will be whether regions with no particular electoral connection to the Prime Minister receive the same powers, on the same timeline, as the ones that do. History, and Hansard, will be watching the rollout schedule closely.
Related Burnham Coverage on Prat.uk
- London Will Finally Be Governed by a Man Who Complained About It
- Burnham Khan Mayoral Alliance Forms Britain’s Most Expensive Support Group
- Burnham Tax London Plan Fights Dependence on London by Taking More of Its Money
- Burnham End London-Centric Politics Pledge Delivered From a Lectern in London
For American governors who also devolved power first to whoever voted for them, see our sister publication Bohiney.com.
Auf Wiedersehen, amigo!
Alan Nafzger was born in Lubbock, Texas, the son Swiss immigrants. He grew up on a dairy in Windthorst, north central Texas. He earned degrees from Midwestern State University (B.A. 1985) and Texas State University (M.A. 1987). University College Dublin (Ph.D. 1991). Dr. Nafzger has entertained and educated young people in Texas colleges for 37 years. Nafzger is best known for his dark novels and experimental screenwriting. His best know scripts to date are Lenin’s Body, produced in Russia by A-Media and Sea and Sky produced in The Philippines in the Tagalog language. In 1986, Nafzger wrote the iconic feminist western novel, Gina of Quitaque. He currently lives in Holloway, North London. Contact: [email protected]
