Burnham calls for 'sense of unity' in first speech as PM

Prime Minister Andy Burnham promised to win over voters "fed up with politics" and show the world that the UK can once again be a source of stability.

Mr Burnham used his first speech as Prime Minister in Downing Street to promise to take power our of Westminster and give the public greater control over "life's essentials".

Speaking without the lectern used by his predecessors, Mr Burnham said he would set out help to address the cost-of-living squeeze.

In his first promise as Prime Minister he said he would "end rough sleeping in our country".

Mr Burnham became British prime minister after meeting the UK's King Charles III at Buckingham Palace.

Keir Starmer departed Downing Street this morning, insisting in a farewell speech that his two years in office had made Britain a better place.

King Charles met Mr Starmer to accept his resignation after which Mr Burnham arrived for the formal procedure where King Charles asked him to form the next government.

Mr Burnham, who was met with cheers by supporters in Downing Street, said: "I am acutely conscious that I am the sixth person in the last 10 years to walk up this street, the seventh prime minister since 2016, making this a moment for reflection and new resolution.

"It requires my generation of politicians to raise our game and rise to the new challenge.

"Britain needs to show the world that we can regain our stability once again."

He concluded his first speech as Prime Minister by urging people to "pull with me" to "build a new national sense of unity, of common purpose and positivity".

He is the sixth prime minister to enter Downing Street in the last 10 years.

Mr Starmer, speaking earlier said: "I am confident that Britain is now stronger and fairer than it was two years ago," Mr Starmer told reporters in his farewell speech outside his central London office.

"I go with good grace, I go with a smile, and I go proud of everything that we have achieved," he added.

Mr Burnham will face an in-tray overflowing with challenges with little time to make his mark.

In an interview with The Times published late yesterday, Mr Burnham said he wanted to draw a line under a decade of political turmoil.

"What we've been doing hasn't been working. That's the way I see it," he said.

"I am going to try and do things in a different way."

He is likely to announce his senior cabinet appointments, with all eyes on who will replace Rachel Reeves as finance minister.

Mr Burnham, who is the former mayor of Greater Manchester, nicknamed the "King of the North", has been parachuted in by the Labour Party, after Mr Starmer resigned last month, with MPs viewing him as the party's best chance of reigning in Nigel Farage's anti-immigration Reform UK party.

Britain's new Prime Minister will need to act fast

'Bigger, bolder'

Among Mr Burnham's most urgent challenges will be a tepid economy, high government borrowing costs, a ballooning welfare bill and irregular migrants arriving in small boats that have fuelled support for Reform.

Unpredictable energy prices due to the US-Iran war and a volatile US president in Donald Trump also threaten to affect his role as prime minister.

Mr Burnham told The Times he would take a "different approach to public spending, and to running the economy - more focused on early investment, early intervention, setting people up for success, and much less paying for failure".

He promised "early moves to help" with the cost of living, saying that while campaigning he heard the "pressure people feel around their finances".

Mr Starmer led Labour to power in July 2024 in a landslide election victory after 14 years of Conservative party rule.

He announced that he would resign as prime minister and Labour Party leader in late June after a string of scandals, missteps and policy U-turns blighted his leadership.

But Mr Burnham, who only returned as a member of parliament four weeks ago, has little room to manoeuvre amid sluggish economic growth, high public debt and strict financial rules requiring him to balance government spending against tax revenue.

'Last chance'

Mr Burnham was an MP between 2001 and 2017, serving as a minister in the governments of Tony Blair and Gordon Brown.

He has since reinvented himself as a man of the people, melding a relaxed, folksy style with slick social media videos.

But he has only three years to turn things around, with Reform leading in polls ahead of the next general election expected in 2029.

Mr Burnham told supporters on Friday his Labour takeover was the "last chance" for the party to get things right.

Critics have accused Mr Starmer's government of being under-prepared for power when he was elected in July 2024.

Mr Burnham has insisted he has a "plan".

But his swift "coronation" as Labour leader has raised questions on how he will achieve his aims.

His first policy announcement came on Saturday when he scrapped Mr Starmer's flagship nationwide digital ID scheme, estimated to cost £1.8 billion (€2.1bn) over three years.

A spokesperson said the time and resources would be diverted "to where it's most needed, such as helping with the cost of living".

Additional reporting by PA