Universities should redouble their efforts to demonstrate how they are enabling “inclusive growth” that benefits all parts of the UK to find favour under a government led by Andy Burnham, research experts have suggested.
While research, innovation and higher education are unlikely to be prioritised in the early days of a Burnham premiership, his entry into Downing Street would represent the arrival of a politician who, as mayor of Greater Manchester, has presided over one of England’s research and development (R&D) success stories, with some 86,000 staff and 81,000 students now based in the Oxford Road corridor housing the city’s two main universities.
Having successfully championed the role of innovation-led growth since he was first elected mayor in 2017, Burnham understands the economic importance of sustained public investment in R&D, said Graeme Reid, chair of science and research policy at UCL.
“He should get some credit for making Manchester, alongside Glasgow, the place to go whenever the government was trying to do some experimentation with R&D, particularly around growing its innovation cluster,” said Reid.
Manchester’s R&D renaissance under his leadership has led to speculation that Burnham might seek to push this agenda personally, with the current prime minister, Keir Starmer, seen to have delegated decisions in this area to his science minister, Patrick Vallance, the government’s former chief science adviser.
