“What the people told us at the local elections on 7 May is that as the government, as mayors, we need to deliver more,” Parker said.
“We need to deliver more quickly and we need to deliver more tangible benefits to them and I believe the best way of doing that is through devolving more resources and more powers to mayors.”
Asked whether he was backing Burnham to become Prime Minister, he said: “Absolutely. He’s been a great mayor, he’s worked in Westminster previously in senior roles and I think he proved, in the [Makerfield] by-election, that he’s a really effective communicator.
“People understand what he’s about and he now needs to develop a clear mission and purpose for the country.”