Britain’s King Charles III on Monday appointed Andy Burnham as prime minister after outgoing Keir Starmer officially tendered his resignation, the palace said.
“Andrew Burnham MP accepted The King’s offer and kissed hands upon his appointment as Prime Minister,” Buckingham Palace said in a statement, adding the king had asked him to form the next government.
Burnham became Britain’s sixth prime minister to move into Downing Street in 10 years, with an in-tray overflowing with challenges and little time to make his mark.
BBC reported that a large crowd of supporters erupted into applause as Burnham stepped onto Downing Street for his first speech.
Delivering his address, Burnham promised to set out new measures to help with the cost of living this week before setting out a new 10-year plan for the country later this year.
“Britain needs to show the world that we can regain our stability once again,” Burnham said.
“We have not been good enough, and we need to be better.”
Promising Britons “some breathing space now”, he said the government would set out some measures to tackle the high cost-of-living, and how it plans to fund them.
Further out, he said: “We will help more young people into work by changing the education system and giving them more support, more mental health support, and we will build 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 to our international partners.”
The new leader takes over from the unpopular Starmer just two years after the outgoing prime minister led the Labour Party to power in a landslide election victory after 14 years of Conservative rule.
In an interview with The Times published late on Sunday, Burnham set out his ambition for change, saying 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.”
An announcement on his senior cabinet appointments was also expected on Monday, with all eyes on who will replace Rachel Reeves as finance minister.
The former mayor of Greater Manchester, nicknamed the “King of the North”, has been parachuted in by the Labour Party after Starmer resigned last month, with MPs viewing him as the party’s best chance of reining in Nigel Farage’s anti-immigration Reform UK party.
Starmer departed Downing Street on Monday morning, insisting in a farewell speech that his two years in office had made Britain a better place.
“I am confident that Britain is now stronger and fairer than it was two years ago,” Starmer told reporters 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.
Congratulations pour in
As soon as Buckingham Palace’s statement came in, leaders from across the world began extending their best wishes for the new UK PM.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said she looked forward to working with Burnham to strengthen the partnership between the European Union (EU) and the UK.
“For the security of our shared continent. And the prosperity of people on both sides of the Channel,” she wrote on X.
EU chief Antonio Costa said he hopes to press on with efforts to improve ties between Brussels and London.
“In the last two years EU-UK relations gained a new, positive momentum,” European Council president Costa posted online.
“I look forward to continuing to further deepen our cooperation for the benefit of our citizens and businesses. The United Kingdom and the European Union are stronger together,” he added.
‘Bigger, bolder’
Deputy Labour Party leader Lucy Powell said on Sunday that Burnham’s mayoral experience away from the London centre of government meant he understood the “bigger, bolder measures” needed to deliver on Labour’s election manifesto promises.
Among 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 American president in Donald Trump also threaten to buffet his premiership.
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”.
Starmer 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 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’
Burnham was an MP between 2001 and 2017, serving as a minister for 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 tipped in polls to win the next general election expected in 2029.
Burnham told supporters on Friday his Labour takeover was the “last chance” for the party to get things right.
Critics have accused Starmer’s government of being under-prepared for power when he was elected in July 2024.
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 Starmer’s flagship nationwide digital ID scheme, estimated to cost £1.8 billion 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”.
