‘More public control’: what will Burnham do about water and energy?

In the fifth of a series on nationalisation, we look at utilities – including the cost of ending private ownership

• Will Burnham ‘go big’ in expanding the role of the state?

• Atlee: the postwar blueprint that inspires Burnham

• How council housebuilding is central to Burnham’s vision

• How Burnham aims to shake up UK transport

When the former Undertones frontman turned campaigner Feargal Sharkey backed Keir Starmer for prime minister in 2024, he hoped that the Labour leader would be the man to clean up Britain’s polluted rivers and bring the water industry into public ownership – starting with troubled Thames Water.

Two years later, Sharkey has been disappointed. Now he is hoping that Andy Burnham will begin the job when he is confirmed as prime minister.