In his first ten days leading the country, the UK prime minister has rolled out popular tax reductions, formed a new team at Number 10, and weighed options for fresh oil and gas exploration in the North Sea.

Given the nation has seen its seventh prime minister in ten years, Andy Burnham's early moves have avoided instant backlash. The former Greater Manchester mayor began with a solid 38 percent approval score and now runs neck and neck with Reform's Nigel Farage ahead of polls in 2029.

Yet suggestions that the prime minister will greenlight expanded drilling off Scotland's coast risk harming his standing among Labour voters who had grown weary of prior leadership.

Officials look set to advance the Rosebank and Jackdaw offshore projects even though earlier pledges as mayor and in the Labour platform ruled out fresh oil and gas licences.

The two fields east of Aberdeen had already entered the approvals process under the previous Conservative administration, with a Jackdaw consultation closing on 8 August and set to clarify whether the centre-left leader will proceed at the UK's largest undeveloped reserve.

US president Donald Trump confirmed the step on Burnham's behalf on Wednesday 29 July.

Though he mixed up the name, Trump told reporters in the Oval Office that the new leader had told him he would open up the North Sea.

If accurate, such reports mark a sharp break from the values Burnham championed while mayor of Greater Manchester, according to an open letter from the University of Manchester science faculty.

Any drop in current support would likely follow if the permit advances, threatening an already delicate poll position.

Burnham's signature plan to shift power away from London has drawn scrutiny as well. Adrian Pabst of the National Institute of Economic and Social Research noted that one cannot hand over authority one does not hold.

The Burnham government must first centralise before it can decentralise, Pabst told EUobserver, adding that tight fiscal limits from high public debt leave little room, and rebuilding state capacity remains the chief task.

The think tank warned this week that borrowing space has narrowed and that defence and living-cost pledges cannot be met without higher taxes or reduced outlays.

Burnham's opening week featured notable VAT and duty cuts for pubs and small music spots, plus a two-pound cap on bus fares across England.

Breaks for smaller venues would be paid for by higher levies on larger firms, while removing VAT from household electricity bills would trim annual costs by about 45 pounds yet carry an 850-million-pound yearly price tag with funding still unclear.

Burnham's spending plans clash with a raised defence target of 3.5 percent of GDP by 2035, the highest level since the 1990s.

I have no illusions about the scale of the challenge, Burnham wrote in the Guardian last week, but I hold a clear plan and know how to deliver.

Despite mismatched budget goals and energy steps that may echo past Conservative thinking, Burnham's friendly style has helped maintain goodwill.

Even if drilling permits are issued, actual extraction may lie beyond the prime minister's direct control.

Over the past 15 years, repeated onshore shale approvals never reached commercial output, noted Andrew Scott of University College London, adding that Rosebank and Jackdaw received consent in 2022 and 2023 only to be blocked by courts in 2025.

Prime ministers are often viewed as all-powerful, yet oil and gas decisions show how limited their practical reach can be, Scott told EUobserver.

Though some choices diverge from Labour tradition, Burnham is charting a course distinct from his predecessor's.

Focused on easing living costs, boosting social housing and strengthening regional voices, the Makerfield MP has won public favour more readily than Keir Starmer managed.