Thursday 23 July 2026 5:14 am
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Wednesday 22 July 2026 11:46 am
Andy Burnham delivers his inaugural speech as UK's new Prime Minister on on July 20, 2026 in London, England. The Member of Parliament for Makerfield becomes the UK's 59th Prime Minister, succeeding Sir Keir Starmer, who resigned as leader of the Labour Party and Prime Minister in June. (Photo by Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)
The ascendancy of the ‘King of the North’ has spooked London. James Ford outlines that this can easily be fixed by greenlighting the West London Orbital RailwayLondon is anxious. The new Prime Minister is not just something of an unknown quantity, but – worse still – he is (whisper it quietly) Northern. Now, we’ve had Prime Ministers from the North before. Rishi Sunak had a constituency in Yorkshire. And Tony Blair had a constituency in the northeast. But Sunak was born in Southampton and Blair was technically Scottish. Neither were ‘proper Northerners’ or had that most obvious giveaway of their otherness: a regional accent. Before Blair, you’d have to go back as far as Harold Wilson (who left office 50 years ago) to find a Prime Minister who represented a constituency in the North-west and flattened his vowels. This could suggest that ‘proper Northerners’ have been historically underrepresented amongst our political leaders and are, arguably, overdue a turn in the top job. But many in the capital do not see it that way. A quick glance at some recent headlines shows that London is scared. Very scared. The Evening Standard has predictably led the charge: “Londoners face £1,000 property tax rise”, “Andy Burnham-backed £7.5bn homes tax on London” and “Will Andy Burnham spark an exodus of London’s middle classes?” are all articles that have run in London’s other newspaper. The barbarians, it seems, are at the gate. One cabinet minister had to reassure southern voters, via the BBC, that “Burnham won’t ignore the South”. Even our freshly ennobled mayor has warned that harming London would be harming the wider UK too. Well, I have a solution to this particular political problem. One simple and relatively affordable policy change that will turn the capital’s frowns and fears into confidence and calm. A single piece of infrastructure that will buy the Prime Minister more goodwill – and good headlines – than knocking a few quid off of electric bills (a gimmick with an estimated cost of £850m). Burnham should build the West London Orbital railway. Cheap, quick and impactfulThe West London Orbital (WLO) is a proposed expansion of the London Overground network from West Hampstead and Hendon to Hounslow. It largely repurposes old freight lines in West London (with the addition of four new stations) and would connect multiple rail, tube and Overground lines (the Bakerloo line, Elizabeth line, Jubilee line, Mildmay line, Piccadilly line, plus HS2 and Thameslink) with around 18.5km of track (most of which already exists). The project would also unlock around 15,800 new homes.
