Andy Burnham vowed to give Brits “some breathing space” when it comes to the cost of living during his first speech as prime minister.
That was only a month ago – and he has already unveiled a series of policies aimed at making everyday life a little easier for the general public.
But just last week, Burnham also admitted that the changes he made might not be enough.
He told the BBC: “We will do everything that is possible for us to do. But I think everyone knows I am in position with limited room for manoeuvre.”
It was a noteworthy admission considering he has made the cost of living the central mission for his government.
Burnham has implemented a £2 cap on single bus rides, scrapped VAT on household electricity bills and announced a ban on “subscription traps”.
He unveiled a 20% cut to business rates for pubs, social clubs and live music venues from April onwards.
His government have also promised to help the number of unemployed young people as the number of 16 to 24-year-olds not in work surpassed a million this year for the first time in more than a decade.
The incremental changes he has unveiled appear to have had some cut-through, his net favourability rating of +13 is the highest for any prime minster since Boris Johnson at the start of the Covid pandemic, according to YouGov.
Labour has finally started to take the lead in some opinion polls, ending Reform UK’s monopoly over prime position.
But, as Burnham alluded to when speaking to the BBC, there are plenty of obstacles which stop him from being able to make significant changes to the cost of living.
For instance, UK inflation rose to 2.9% in July due to rising energy costs driven by the Iran war.
Britain refused to get directly involved with this conflict but it continues to destabilise global fuel prices and therefore impacts British energy bills.
Though this is out of the government’s control, there’s a risk voters will still end up blaming the government – as they did when the Russian invasion of Ukraine caused a spike in energy prices in 2022.
Energy regulator Ofgem is expecting the price cap for household energy bills in Britain to rise by 4% in October.
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