Just a quarter of voters think that Andy Burnham would govern in the interests of the whole country, according to a survey.
They were more likely to say that the prime-minister-in-waiting would govern for the North of England, it revealed.
It comes after Mr Burnham – who was known as the ‘King of the North’ when he was the mayor of Greater Manchester – gave a speech in which he vowed to create a ‘No 10 North’.
Asked by YouGov how they would expect the new MP for Makerfield to govern, just 23per cent of voters said it would be in the interests of the whole country.
However, 27per cent said that they expected him to govern mainly in the interests of the regions like the North of England.
Conservative and Reform UK voters were the least likely to say he would govern in the interests of the whole country, at 11per cent and 8per cent respectively.
Just four per cent said he would govern in the interests of London and the South East while 35per cent said they did not know.
There is also a regional divide, with northerners believing that he will govern in the interests of the whole country by 32per cent to 13per cent, while southerners expected him to favour the North by 36per cent to 18per cent.
Andy Burnham would not govern in the interests of the whole country, according to a survey
The poll will make uncomfortable reading for the prospective prime minister who may struggle to unite the country if he becomes PM.
However, the results are not surprising considering Mr Burnham’s announcement that he would move part of the PM’s office to Manchester to ‘rewire Britain’.
In a speech earlier this week, he said that a ‘No 10 North’ would bring about the ‘biggest rebalancing of power our country has seen’.
He said he would ‘take power out of the centre’ and further devolve power across the UK. However, he has yet to set out how this would happen.
His allies have even suggested that he could work from Manchester at least one day a week and perhaps more.
He is likely to become the PM as early as July 20 unless he is challenged for the leadership.
Wes Streeting, the former leadership candidate who has since pledged his support to Mr Burnham, has criticised this stance.
He previously said he found the focus on a ‘North-South divide’ jarring and said it was not just the North who felt left behind.
‘One thing that has always slightly grated with me in terms of Andy’s argument and analysis of the country is the sort of the North-South divide,’ he told the News Agents podcast.
‘Come with me to the estuary towns of Kent, and you will find people who feel the same resentment towards London and the inequality in our country in the way you would find in the Old Cotton Mill towns around Manchester.
‘And as for infrastructure, come with me down to Cornwall, come with me down to Devon, and you will find the same people saying, ‘hang on a minute, it’s not just the North, look down here’.’
YouGov polled 4,473 adults on June 30.
