Article by Cllr Dick Cole published in the Cornish Guardian (15th July 2026) and West Briton newspapers (16th July 2026)

Nominations for the leader of the Labour Party will close this week. It looks like the only person who will be put forward is Andy Burnham and the United Kingdom will have a new Prime Minister within a matter of days.

The PM-in-waiting gave a key speech at the People’s History Museum in Manchester at the end of June. It contained plenty of generic statements, which I found hard to disagree with, and his presentation had a key focus on the devolution of power away from Westminster. There was a lack of detail, and I remain extremely concerned about whether Labour will deliver the Celtic-style powers that Cornwall merits and needs.

So what did Andy Burnham say? He said that “after 10 years of political turbulence since Brexit” and two decades of “falling living standards,” it was obvious that “Westminster hasn’t been working for people, and it hasn’t been working for a very long time.” He spoke about the “stark imbalance” in resources between state government and local government, adding that “local government is threadbare and without the resources to fulfil even statutory responsibilities … this is not just bad for councils in the areas they serve, it is bad for everywhere.” I total concur with these statements.

In terms of devolution, he stated “we are one of the most over-centralised countries,” and the “over-centralised part of the country is not pulling in the same way but in different directions.” He has promised the “biggest rebalancing of power our country has seen” and has promised to “give Britain the circuit breaker it needs.” In addition, he has put forward the idea of a “No 10 North,” which will be the nerve centre of a rewired Britain.” He suggests this will make power flow into the different parts of the UK.

As someone who has campaigned for devolution for Cornwall for years, I want to see such a democratic revolution.

There is talk of more powers for the regions – whatever they actually are in geographical and population terms – and of Andy Burnham’s “Manchesterism,” regional mayoralties and local government reforms. He has also promised “new opportunities to extend devolution” in the nations of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

But he said nothing about the historic nation of Cornwall, the national minority status of the Cornish people or our long-standing demands for meaningful new powers. Mr Burnham, this coming December will mark the 25th anniversary of 50,000 declarations (calling for a Cornish Assembly) being delivered to a Labour Prime Minister in 10 Downing Street. Please belatedly join us in delivering on that representation.