Kemi Badenoch used a speech in London on Thursday to accuse Andy Burnham of acting like he is still the mayor of Greater Manchester, not the prime minister of the United Kingdom. She called on him to rule out tax rises at the autumn Budget.

The Conservative leader said Burnham had not explained how he would pay for a series of measures announced in his first days in office. She described the early promises as a "spending spree" (BBC News).

"Every day, Andy Burnham seems to float a new, expensive idea," Badenoch said. "We have seen this movie before. Tax rises are coming."

Badenoch expanded the attack in a Facebook post reported by Sky News. "He is behaving like he's still the mayor of Manchester," she wrote. "He is now the prime minister of the United Kingdom. He needs to start acting like it" (Sky News via Facebook).

Before becoming prime minister, Burnham served two terms as the directly elected mayor of Greater Manchester. Badenoch's language is designed to paint his premiership as an extension of that local role, suggesting the approach does not work at national level.

A second Facebook post, published on 2 July, went further. "Andy Burnham needs to stop wasting time giving empty speeches and running away," Badenoch wrote (Facebook).

On her official Instagram account, Badenoch struck a broader note: "If we keep acting like it's a popularity contest, we will keep getting Prime Ministers who know how to get elected, but don't know how to govern" (Instagram).

The Conservative Party has been building this argument for several weeks. An official article published on 29 June at conservatives.com carried Badenoch's warning that the country could not afford a repeat of what she called a leaderless premiership. "We don't know, and we've seen the consequences of a Prime Minister without a plan with Keir Starmer," she said. "We can't let it happen again" (Conservatives.com).

Reuters reported on 28 June that Badenoch had pressed the same message at an earlier stage of Burnham's transition, telling him: "If he wants to be the leader of our country, it's time to start acting like it" (Reuters).

The Daily Express quoted Badenoch telling Burnham: "He needs to lift his sights. Because the world will not wait for Andy Burnham" (Daily Express).

Badenoch has used the same approach across every channel available to her: Parliament, social media, the party website and the press. She is trying to define Burnham's early premiership as careless with public money before the public forms its own impression. She also wants to link him to Starmer as a second prime minister in a row without a real plan.

The wider picture matters here. By demanding that Burnham rule out tax rises at the autumn Budget, Badenoch is trying to force him into a corner. If he agrees, he accepts the Conservatives' framing of the debate. If he refuses, the Opposition has a ready-made attack line to use through party conference season, the period in autumn when parties hold rallies and set out their messages.

The approach also lets Badenoch avoid engaging with the details of Burnham's individual policies. By calling them all a "spending spree" and focusing on the funding question, she keeps the pressure on whether he can afford his promises, rather than whether any single idea is good or bad.