Headlines claiming Britain is collapsing into instability – with seven Prime Ministers in just over 10 years – fail to acknowledge our history. It has happened before. Between 1852 and 1868 we had eight Prime Ministers, all lasting less than two years. Between October 1922 and November 1924, we had five. As now, these periods coincided with significant domestic and international change, with new voters, new priorities, and major societal shifts from a largely agrarian to an industrial society. The economic and social changes of the 1920s brought working-class men and women into the electoral system, war veterans into Parliament, and an expansion of newspapers and literacy.
More recently we have faced Brexit, a global pandemic, the breakdown of the international order, disruption from the White House, the proliferation of social media and the growing spread of disinformation, mass migration, climate change, and the rise of AI. There is also Russia’s continuing war against Ukraine, growing strategic competition between the major powers, renewed emphasis on nuclear deterrence, and uncertainty over the future direction of the transatlantic relationship.
These developments have fundamentally altered Britain’s security environment. They require governments to think simultaneously about conventional defence, economic resilience, technological advantage, and the protection of democratic institutions.
Now Britain has another new Prime Minister, Andy Burnham. He takes office in the midst of this turbulent environment.
Andy (I use first names throughout because we have worked together professionally) is a politician to his fingertips. A socialist who knows how to work with and utilise new technologies and communication skills to engage the electorate, the business community, allies, and partners. His new government started with a few positive policy announcements. Cutting bills that directly impact the majority of the population sends a clear signal of his priorities. These include a VAT cut on electricity bills, a 20 percent cut in business rates for pubs, clubs, and live music venues, and a cap of £2 on bus journeys. Andy’s statement that his government would implement changes “that people will feel and feel quite quickly” went down well with the general public.
There are other major changes the PM has signalled he will tackle, including ending rough sleeping, greater devolution of powers away from Westminster, with mayors given a percentage of income tax receipts from their area to spend locally, giving Britain a written constitution, and reforming social care. It is a huge agenda of change over the next three years.
The appointment of John Healey as Chancellor was an unexpected but inspired choice. John worked in the Treasury under Gordon Brown. In Westminster he is trusted and seen as reliable – a thinker, a listener, creative, and well liked. At the Ministry of Defence he quickly mastered his brief and built a strong team, with good working relationships with the Service Chiefs, NATO leadership and, importantly, Britain’s defence industries. If there is a way of building capacity for greater defence spending, John will find it. He also knows the levers to pull to rein in the procurement practices at the MOD that have long frustrated the Treasury.
But this is not his only task. John has a wider brief to restructure the working and decision-making processes of the Treasury. He has been helped by changes made by Rachel Reeves and can build on these to spread development funding across the regions, facilitating growth, promoting skills, and reducing youth unemployment. John understands the vital role of a strong economy in supporting defence, national security, and absorbing the impacts of international instability such as the current war in the Gulf. Restructuring the economy to work for the whole of the UK has to sit alongside rebuilding our military capacity.
Restructuring the economy to work for the whole of the UK has to sit alongside rebuilding our military capacity. Madeleine Moon
Over at the MOD, before his formal appointment there had been rumours that Wes Streeting would become Secretary of State despite having no previous background in defence. What Wes does have is a deep knowledge of how Westminster works. He will understand that this is a job where political skills, rather than an innate knowledge of the department, will determine his success. He will have the support of the Service Chiefs, who have been here before.
He will also have Luke Pollard and Lord Vernon Coaker as his two Ministers of State, one in the Commons and one in the House of Lords. Both are deeply knowledgeable, loyal, focused on defence, and aware of the high stakes the country faces. Calvin Bailey, a former RAF officer, brings considerable expertise to his role as Parliamentary Under Secretary for Veterans and People. All understand that it is people who make the British military a strong and cohesive fighting force. They will build from there, working with industry, allies, and partners.
Despite the change of leadership, it would be unwise to write off the achievements of the Starmer government. Andy will be building on two years of major reforms, many of which went largely unrecognised amid a tide of negativity from both inside and outside the Labour Party. The public have often been unaware of the progress that has been made. Strong relationships have been rebuilt with NATO and the EU, while major immigration and criminal justice reforms are underway alongside a programme of welfare reform.
In foreign and defence policy there is likely to be more continuity than change. Recent announcements on defence investment illustrate this. The government’s decision to invest £8.4 billion in the next phase of the Dreadnought submarine programme is being presented not only as a defence commitment but also as part of a broader industrial strategy. National security and economic renewal will reinforce one another through skilled employment, apprenticeships, regional investment, and the rebuilding of Britain’s manufacturing base. The programme will also support tens of thousands of jobs across the UK and strengthen sovereign industrial capability at a time when resilient supply chains and defence production have become strategic assets in their own right.
One other quiet commitment now requires the new government’s attention. During Sir Keir Starmer’s final days in Number 10, the Annual Statement on National Resilience was published with a number of significant commitments that, assuming policy continuity, will now fall to Andy’s government to deliver. It includes an Energy Resilience Strategy due later this year, the establishment of a Network of National Biosecurity Centres backed by £1.83 billion of investment, and implementation of the UK’s Biological Security Strategy aimed at ensuring Britain is resilient to a spectrum of biological risks while remaining a world leader in responsible innovation. The statement also confirmed that defence spending will rise to almost £80 billion annually by 2029 and committed the government to reviewing the Civil Contingencies Act to strengthen national preparedness and resilience.
While some NATO countries, particularly the Nordics, have spent years preparing their populations for national resilience, the British public will now be asked to play a greater role in building a more resilient Britain. The reality of the civil, military, and natural threats facing the UK will be set out more clearly, alongside the role citizens can play in preparing for and responding to inevitable disruptions.
For Andy’s government, this presents a timely opportunity to articulate a genuine whole-of-society, whole-of-government approach to national resilience.
The European Leadership Network itself as an institution holds no formal policy positions. The opinions articulated above represent the views of the authors rather than the European Leadership Network or its members. The ELN aims to encourage debates that will help develop Europe’s capacity to address the pressing foreign, defence, and security policy challenges of our time, to further its charitable purposes.
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