What changes do you think Andy Burnham should make as the next prime minister to improve the government?

Andy Burnham must sort out the centre of government on day one jack.sanders Fri, 26/06/2026 - 15:33 A weak No.10 and ineffective Cabinet Office require urgent attention 6 Comment Thomas Pope Hannah Keenan Institute for Government Yes Instead of splitting the Treasury, Andy Burnham ought to reform the centre of government on day one. Civil service Public finances Civil servants Machinery of government Labour HM Treasury No Andy Burnham, the overwhelming favourite to be the UK’s next prime minister, is reported to be planning changes to the centre of government. He is right to do so. Our work shows that the Cabinet Office is bloated and unfocused, and has lost credibility inside Whitehall. No.10 is too weak, which perversely leads successive prime ministers to draw more functions into the centre rather than devolving and decentralising. Burnham’s team are also mulling whether to break up the Treasury by creating a new more powerful economics ministry alongside a finance department. Again, he is right to identify problems with the role the Treasury can play, no doubt informed in part by his spell as a Treasury minister in the late 2000s. And solving these will be critical if he is to deliver a successful domestic policy agenda. But breaking up the Treasury, without broader reform, would be a distraction that would not solve the underlying problems. Change is vital, and Burnham must re-balance the centre of government by strengthening No10, not weakening the Treasury. But it is essential that he works out what he wants to do right now, then announces and implements reforms at the very start of his administration. The IfG’s Commission on the Centre of Government showed what he needs to do – and if he stalls, then we know from experience that nothing will happen. Creating a more effective No10 must be one of Burnham’s top internal priorities Burnham is currently on course to inherit a centralising and controlling, yet ineffective, set of institutions in No.10 and the Cabi