Can Andy Burnham govern an ungovernable Britain?

Britain is on its seventh prime minister in a decade, and the new one has inherited a fractured union. Can Andy Burnham govern a country many now call ungovernable?Burnham replaces Keir Starmer, who resigned in June after barely two years, worn down by policy reversals, poor local election results, and slipping public confidence. He arrives promising a "circuit breaker": a new economic model, reindustrialisation, and the kind of regional devolution he championed as mayor of Greater Manchester. But Britain's troubles run deeper than any single leader. An unelected House of Lords, uneven devolution across Scotland, Wales and the English regions, the slow economic drag of Brexit, and a north left behind after Cameron-era promises on rail and investment went unmet all point to something structural. Meanwhile Nigel Farage and the populist right are gaining ground, testing whether Burnham can win back the disaffected voters Labour has been losing.Presented by Geraldine Doogue and Hamish Macdonald, this episode puts these questions to Ben Wellings of Monash University, author of English Nationalism and British Disintegration. They weigh whether Britain has quietly become the new Italy, chronically unstable and unsure of its place in the world, and whether Burnham's bet on hope and a "Downing Street of the North" can hold a fracturing country together. And they ask what it all means from an Australian vantage point: if Britain really is the leading edge of Western decline, is Australia paying close enough attention?Guest: Ben Wellings, Associate Professor of Politics and International Relations at Monash University.Get in touch:We'd love to hear from you! Email us at [email protected] all the episodes of Global Roaming now via the ABC Listen App or wherever you get your podcasts.