Andy Burnham is right: power must reach every postcode

They experience it at the kitchen table when they cannot get a GP appointment. They feel it when an older relative cannot access the care they need. They see it when another shop closes on the local high street.

Andy Burnham’s first speech as Prime Minister spoke directly to that distance between national politics and everyday life.

He promised to take the power out of Westminster and carry it into “every postcode in the land.” He spoke of putting care at the heart of government and made ending rough sleeping his first instruction.

One speech cannot fix Britain. But those commitments point towards something that has been missing from national politics. He recognised that change must be seen and felt in the places where people actually live. Burnham is right to focus on growth. Britain needs secure jobs, industries with a future, affordable homes and investment in places that have been neglected for too long.

The country desperately needs all of it. But it's not enough on its own. A place can attract investment and still leave its residents feeling unheard. New homes, transport links and jobs can be delivered to a community without being shaped with it. Material progress is profoundly important, but it does not automatically create trust, connection or belonging.

For years, politicians have hidden behind numbers. Growth figures. Waiting lists. Housing targets. But these figures don't give insight into the lived experience of the country. They don’t reveal what it feels like when the local pub closes, children have nowhere safe to play, or people believe decisions about their neighbourhood are always made somewhere else.

Measuring whether people feel safe, valued and able to shape the future of the places they call home is as important – if not more – than assessing what is built or spent.

Our 2026 Belonging Barometer found two in five people (39%) feel less connected to Britain than at the beginning of the decade. Almost three in five (58%) said the cost-of-living crisis had made it harder for people to build connection and community.

These findings describe more than loneliness. They point to an erosion of the relationships and shared institutions that help communities hold together.

Our sense of belonging is often formed locally: through the people we know, the places we share and the opportunities we have to contribute. But it also depends on power – whether we have a meaningful voice in the decisions that shape our lives.

Burnham's work on rough sleeping in Greater Manchester shows both the promise and the limits of local power. Early progress showed what can happen when political leadership, public investment and local organisations unite around a common purpose. But the setbacks that followed are a reminder that local ambition cannot be sustained adequate funding, enough housing and supportive national policy.

That is the real test for devolution. It cannot mean passing responsibility from Whitehall to city hall. It must also transfer the money and authority needed to act – and create space for communities themselves to shape the decisions that affect their lives.

And power cannot stop with regional institutions. It must reach communities themselves. People need a genuine role in decisions about housing, transport, work, public spaces and care.

Care is especially important. It is through care that people stay connected to loved ones, participate in community life and retain their dignity. When care systems fail, relationships fracture, families become isolated, and communities lose some of the ties that sustain them. The consequences are more than just clinical or financial.

A new politics of place won't ultimately be judged by media headlines and soundbites. It will be judged on the local high street, in the library and the park, at the school gates, and around the kitchen table.

Every community deserves the power, resources and relationships to shape its own future. That is how a promise made in Downing Street can become change – and belonging – felt in every postcode.

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Kim Samuel is the founder of the Belonging Forum.

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