Skip to main content

Andy Burnham for PM – a new beginning for travel, or more of the same?

Opinion
Alan Bowen
30 June 2026

With Andy Burnham seemingly destined for No.10 in the coming weeks, what can we glean from the former Mayor of Manchester's track record? Alan Bowen, legal advisor to the Association of Atol Companies, assesses what can travel expect from the likely next Prime Minister.

Former Mayor of Manchester Andy Burnham
andyformayor.co.uk

Burnham is the favourite to take over from Keir Starmer as leader of the Labour Party and Prime Minister

For a man who wasn’t even an MP four weeks ago to be preparing to become our new Prime Minister is certainly a sign Andy Burnham knows how to climb the greasy pole of politics.

So will his policies ensure growth for the travel industry? Or will it simply be more of the same with higher taxes and little incentive for investment?

He, like every Prime Minister before him, claims he will pursue growth, but the economic health of the UK isn’t entirely in our own hands. We need low inflation and low interest rates to ensure a feel-good factor which will encourage travel, but all-too-often, outside influences throw us off course.