A tale of two cities

Andy Burnham's bid to win the Makerfield by-election has focused a lot of attention on 'Manchesterism', but another big regional city once set the trend nationally.

I refer, of course, to Birmingham, Britain's second city in terms of population and geographic size. This title is hotly-contested by Manchester, both in terms of its metropolitan size and its economic and cultural importance. However, there is no doubt that, historically at least, Birmingham was hugely influential in the building of the civic and municipal structure of modern Britain. While the same argument can legitimately be made for Manchester, it was undoubtedly the election of Joseph Chamberlain as Mayor of Birmingham in 1873 that gave his city the edge.

Chamberlain, a radical Liberal, spearheaded what was dubbed the "gas and water socialism" movement, bringing these vital utilities into public ownership. The profits were reinvested into slum clearance, the construction of paved roads, parks and public libraries, and the building of the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery, which opened in 1885. In that year Chamberlain's manifesto, The Radical Programme, was published, which was to prove influential and controversial in equal measure. Its reception might constitute a warning from history to Andy Burnham as he seeks to transition 'Manchesterism' into a national programme.

Chamberlain's radicalism became highly contentious on the national stage, being repudiated by his own Liberal Party at Westminster. The General Election of 1885 resulted in a hung parliament rather than the majority the Liberals were hoping for, and this was blamed in large part on Chamberlain's outspoken and unapologetic public pronouncements. Burnham, a much less combative and divisive character than Chamberlain, may heed the warning and seek a more consensual approach if he is returned to Westminster seeking to replace Kevir Starmer as Labour Prime Minister. The danger inherent in that strategy, though, is in over-compromising on the scale of the 'change' he promises. 

'Change' was Starmer's winning one-word election slogan in 2024 but, whatever it implied, people have yet to feel the benefit of it in their daily lives. The risk for Burnham lies in being radical enough to be taken seriously as an agent of meaningful change while not frightening the horses (or the bond market) - a tricky act to pull off. Already soft-pedalling on his commitment to rejoining the EU in order not to alienate the Leave- and Reform-voting electorate of Makerfield, whose support he needs to get back to Westminster, he will then need to be bold to convince his Labour colleagues to support his leadership bid. Wes Streeting has already cannily nailed his colours to the 'Rejoin' mast, leaving Burnham with a dilemma he may struggle to reconcile.

The lesson from history could be that popularity at the local level doesn't smoothly translate to success nationally.

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