Although a leadership election has not yet been officially triggered, Wes Streeting’s resignation, and the announcement that Andy Burnham will seek to contest a parliamentary by-election in Makerfield, all but confirms that the race is on to replace Sir Keir Starmer. Although reports suggest that Starmer will not go down without a fight, we are reviewing the planning positions of the main candidates’ positions on planning and development.
Andy Burnham, the current Mayor of Greater Manchester, will have to win election to Westminster before being allowed to challenge the Prime Minister. The constituency he will contest, Makerfield, was won by Labour in 2024, but only 6,000 votes ahead of a Reform party that has subsequently surged in national polling. Although Burnham’s personal popularity will provide him with a boost over the resigning Josh Simons, Reform would love nothing more than to act as spoilsport for Labour’s leadership contest by beating Burnham at the polling booth.
Should Burnham win both by-election and a leadership contest, his housing agenda would likely focus heavily on council housing. In an interview in The Telegraph last year, he backed a plan to borrow £40 billion to spend on council housebuilding and has consistently campaigned for an end to ‘Right to Buy’. Though his current position as head of a Combined Authority means he does not control housebuilding directly in his area, he has consistently announced funding to boost growth and housebuilding within the area. In July 2024, Burnham stated Greater Manchester would contribute 75,000 new homes towards Starmer’s 1.5 million home target, more than a third higher than its “share”, whilst a more recent £1 billion Growth Fund promised to support 3,000 new homes.
Prior to being Mayor, Burnham, as an MP, criticised the amount of Green Belt that would be lost in the first draft of the Greater Manchester Spatial Framework. However, his own subsequent ‘Places for Everyone’ plan was also criticised by campaigners (and subject to judicial review) due to a reduction in the number of sites proposed to be added to the Green Belt (as replacement for those released).
Wes Streeting, who served as a Redbridge Borough Councillor for 8 years (including a stint as Deputy Leader) has also been a strong supporter of increased council housebuilding, backing a 2019 report calling for 3 million new council homes over 20 years. He has also, however, more consistently opposed Green Belt development, signing a pledge (also in 2019) that: “I promise to defend the Redbridge Green Belt for current and future generations and to oppose any plans to build on it. I don’t make this promise lightly and I will honour it at every opportunity.”
Having been cleared of wrongdoing over the stamp duty fiasco that forced her resignation as Housing Secretary in September, Angela Rayner has also emerged as another potential challenger. Well known to the planning industry, she was a spearhead and staunch defender of the 1.5 million home target, even as it appears to grow less achievable by the day.
