Just under a fortnight into the job, and UK business leaders are evenly split on whether Prime Minister Andy Burnham has what it takes to respond to their needs, new polling from market research company Ipsos reveals.
Thirty-one per cent of businesses agree that Burnham is up to the job of leading the country, the same proportion disagree, and the same proportion again say they neither agree nor disagree.
Ipsos polled 1,200 senior business decision-makers at UK companies with an annual turnover of £250,000 or more, with fieldwork carried out online between 1 and 16 July 2026. Oliver Fenton, associate director in the economy and environment team at Ipsos, said the results point to a business community still weighing up the new Prime Minister.
“There is also evidence to suggest that Burnham’s regional agenda appeals to UK businesses, but one in three remain unsure whether he has what it takes to be a good Prime Minister,” Oliver said. “Support with energy costs and business taxes will go a significant way to convincing the wider business community that Burnham is on their side.”
However, that divide disappears when it comes to what businesses want from the Prime Minister’s government.
Energy Costs and Business Tax Top UK Priorities
While opinion of Burnham himself is split, businesses appear to agree on what they want him to do next. Help with the cost of energy remains the top ask, cited by 29% of respondents, though that’s down three points since May. Reducing the taxes businesses pay follows close behind at 27%, unchanged since the spring – the only measure in the top five that hasn’t moved at all. Three requests are now tied at 15% each: building closer trade ties with the EU, down six points since May; improving the quality of public services, down two points; and help adopting AI, up four points, the sharpest rise of any priority tested.
That rise in demand for AI support, against a flatlining ask on tax and a softening one on Europe, tracks with what employers have told Employment Hero this year.
Almost two-thirds (64%) of UK employers say AI has already changed what they look for when hiring, with AI skills now ranking above prior experience among the attributes they screen for. Yet 56% of business leaders say employing staff has become more complex over the past 12 months, leaving little room to absorb new costs regardless of what government prioritises. When businesses set out their expectations of the incoming administration, the emphasis fell in the same place: energy bills, business rates and National Insurance, rather than the wider political questions surrounding Burnham’s arrival.
What the Autumn Budget 2026 Needs to Answer
Burnham now has to weigh those demands against a shrinking budget. The National Institute of Economic and Social Research warned this week that the Government’s budget headroom has fallen from around £7bn to nearer £3bn, as higher oil prices and inflation push the chancellor, John Healey, toward finding an extra £24bn by the end of the decade just to maintain existing spending commitments. Speaking in relation to those challenges, NIESR’s David Aikman cautioned against funding new pledges through further borrowing, arguing that new commitments should come from taxation or savings elsewhere instead.
That could present problems for a Chancellor seeking to cut energy costs and business taxes, the two measures businesses want most, without breaching the Government’s fiscal rules ahead of the budget this autumn. It’s a position UK businesses will remember well, particularly after the 2025 Budget delivered limited relief on costs SMEs had flagged as urgent, with scepticism about promises translating into action remaining as a result.
Kevin Fitzgerald, UK Managing Director at Employment Hero, says the test for Burnham is whether his regional ambitions survive contact with those same cost pressures:
“The argument that economic growth lies in cities and communities across the UK, and not just in the capital, is a good one.
“Our data shows employment growth in the North is outpacing even that of London, but employers are being hit harder by rising employment costs and complexity, which has more of an impact on regional businesses and therefore has a knock-on effect on wages.
“So, if the vision for Manchesterism is growth driven by the regions, then we must look at national policies which make hiring and growth complex for SMEs. Increasing businesses’ ability to be ambitious and make hiring decisions will ultimately support SMEs up and down the country to drive employment growth within their communities.”
Whichever way Healey turns, finding room for the £24bn in savings NIESR has flagged while still meeting the priorities most businesses call urgent will be the real test of Burnham’s first budget this autumn, not the promises made in his first fortnight.
