Andy Burnham has promised to “change politics” with a new political and economic model for Britain.
In his first Downing Street address as Prime Minister on Monday afternoon (20 July), Burnham said he is “acutely conscious” that he is the country’s seventh prime minister in the last decade but promised that his appointment will be a “circuit breaker for Britain”. Burnham said his premiership will bring about the “biggest changes for the last 40 years”.
The new Prime Minister also revealed that his first instruction will be to “end rough sleeping in our country”. He pledged to make politics “more collaborative” and “more about problem solving than point scoring” before reiterating his commitment to devolving power out of Whitehall and into “every postcode in the land”.
Earlier this morning Burnham and his wife, Marie-France van Heel, met the King at Buckingham Palace, where Burnham was appointed Prime Minister. In a break with convention, Burnham made his first No 10 address without a lectern.
Burnham said that later this year he would set out a new ten-year plan for Britain, “laying out the path from where we are now to where I want Britain to be”. However, he revealed he would announce several measures in the coming days – starting tomorrow – to give “people breathing space now”.
He hinted that these announcements will be targeted at helping more young people back into work and building more council homes. “That is the fair and sustainable way to bring the welfare bill down, to meet our fiscal rules and to honour our commitments on defence. We will help people to live well,” Burnham said.
Ending his speech, Burnham said his government will “build a new national sense of unity, of common purpose and positivity,” before adding: “Let us make this the moment that Britain starts to believe again”.
Earlier today, the outgoing prime minister Keir Starmer pledged his “full support” to Burnham and said he is leaving No 10 “with a smile”.
In a final speech on Downing Street on Monday morning, before he drove to the Palace to offer his resignation to the King, Starmer attempted to smooth the path of Burnham’s arrival while also trying to secure his own legacy. “My work is done,” he said, adding, “I am confident that Britain is now stronger and fairer than it was two years ago.”
“As I now pass the baton to Andy Burnham, I wish him every success. He has my full support,” Starmer said. As he delivered his remarks, Starmer was surrounded by dozens of advisers, loyal Cabinet ministers and loved ones who applauded him as he left Downing Street. He spoke of politics as a “team sport”, perhaps intended as a gentle reminder to his successor that a number of Starmerites will remain active stakeholders in the Labour Party after his departure.
He once again made special reference to his wife Victoria, who accompanied him out of the black door, and said “I go with good grace, I go with a smile, and I go proud of everything we have achieved.”
[Further reading: The lessons Andy Burnham should learn from New Labour]
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