The Sussex And The City Podcast

– Bonus episode

Andy Burnham in 2022: How A Mayor Measures Impact

Host: Richard Freeman Guest: Andy Burnham – Mayor of Greater Manchester

🔍 Episode summary

This special bonus episode goes back into the archive, sharing Richard Freeman's January 2022 interview with Andy Burnham, originally recorded for The Possibility Club.

At the time, Burnham was already one of the most prominent voices in English devolution. Today, his arguments about Westminster centralisation, regional power, transport, homelessness, young people, skills and public trust feel directly relevant to Sussex as it begins its own devolution journey.

The conversation explores what it means to lead a region with visibility, convening power and a clear story of place. Burnham argues that devolution should start with people's lives, not abstract structures, and that impact should be measured through "names, not numbers".

For Sussex, the episode offers some perspective. If a future mayor is to mean anything, they will need to do more than manage structures. They will need to build trust, connect councils, businesses, charities and communities, and make regional leadership feel human.

🎯 In this episode

Why Andy Burnham believes England is too centralised What Greater Manchester can teach Sussex about devolution Why regional leaders need power, visibility and a clear story How Burnham measures impact through human stories, not just statistics Why young people, transport, skills and homelessness became mayoral priorities How creativity and culture shape civic leadership Why collaboration has to start from the grassroots How a mayor can use convening power to bring people together

🧠 Key themes

Devolution is not just about structures. Burnham argues that real devolution should give places the power to act on the issues affecting people's lives.

Impact needs to be human. Data matters, but Burnham makes the case for measuring change through lived experience and real stories.

Young people need a stronger place in regional policy. The conversation covers life readiness, mental health, skills and whether education is preparing young people for the world they are actually entering.

Collaboration works best when it starts from place. Burnham describes how Greater Manchester brought councils, charities, businesses, faith groups and communities together around shared missions.

Sussex should pay attention. The episode raises useful questions about what kind of mayoral leadership Sussex might need: visible, practical, collaborative and rooted in local identity.

💬 What Andy says

"Politics lives too much in the world of numbers and statistics."

"It should all be about names, not numbers."

"To build resilience, you need to take power out and enable places and people and organisations to do much more for themselves."

"Devolution creates that possibility."

"Collaboration starts with where you are."

"If you build collaboration from the bottom up, that actually is the way to make more impactful, meaningful change."

🎧 Production credits

Host: Richard Freeman Guest: Andy Burnham Original podcast: The Possibility Club Producer / editor: Chris Thorpe-Tracey Produced by: always possible

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