Andy Burnham, Greater Manchester mayor, plans to set out a 10-year mission to raise living standards if he becomes Prime Minister. The plan includes devolving powers to regional mayors, cutting welfare spending to encourage employment, increasing defence spending, and measures such as lowering water, energy and train bills alongside reindustrialisation.
Andy Burnham's 10-year mission fell well short on refnation, with 35 of 56 votes against and yes managing only 38 per cent — a clear if not crushing defeat, closer to a rejection of the package than a wipeout.
The number that jumps out is gender, not age. Men split almost down the middle, 19 yes to 22 no (46 per cent), essentially a coin-toss on devolution, welfare cuts and reindustrialisation. Women who voted were unanimous the other way: all seven said no, not one backing the plan.
Age tells a subtler story. The 25-34 bracket, the only age group with real numbers, was the closest thing to a yes constituency at 45 per cent, while 35-44s were the most hostile at just 22 per cent — a squeeze on the plan from the generation often assumed to want higher welfare spending and softer bills most, cutting against the "reindustrialisation for the middle-aged" framing Burnham's team might have hoped for.
It leaves Burnham's platform looking like classic mayoral-to-national politics: popular enough among men to survive a hustings, but nowhere close to winning over the female vote it will need if it ever leaves the conference hall.
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