20
Jul
UK’s next PM: Andy Burnham
Andy Burnham, 56, became Prime Minister of the UK, succeeding Keir Starmer. The former Greater Manchester mayor — nicknamed the “King of the North” — entered Downing Street just over an hour after Starmer’s farewell speech.
King Charles, 77, welcomed Andy Burnham as his fourth Prime Minister in four years. Burnham arrived at the palace shortly after 12 p.m. local time for an audience with the monarch and spent 35 minutes with him.
Shortly afterwards, Buckingham Palace issued a statement: “His Majesty received in audience the Rt. Hon. Andrew Burnham MP and requested him to form a new Administration. The Rt. Hon Andrew Burnham MP accepted the King’s offer and kissed hands upon his appointment as Prime Minister and First Lord of the Treasury.”
In his first speech as Prime Minister on the steps of Downing Street, Burnham promised a new economic model and a more active state, saying this would address years of political instability. He said: “We have not been good enough, and we need to be better. Britain needs to show the world that we can regain our stability once again.”
Burnham framed his approach as a “new model” for government. He said he would introduce measures to tackle the cost of living and focus on issues requiring immediate action. He argued that politicians had not delivered the stability needed to raise living standards, describing his premiership as a “circuit-breaker for Britain”. He added that the aim was to rebuild the country in response to the political instability that has followed the 2016 vote to leave the European Union.
Burnham has repeatedly pledged to shift power from central government to regional leaders, which he described as the “biggest rebalancing of power” in recent British history. Alongside this, he has promoted “business-friendly socialism”, calling for greater state control of essential services such as energy and transport while working closely with business.
