‘We need to be better’: Arise, Andy Burnham, Britain’s seventh PM in a decade

London: British Prime Minister Andy Burnham has vowed to “bring back hope” to the country after being elevated to the leadership in a meeting with King Charles, declaring that the public deserves better from a new generation of politicians.

Burnham promised to deliver help with the cost of living within his first 24 hours in the job, as he arrived at his official residence at 10 Downing Street to deliver his first remarks as prime minister in front of hundreds of reporters.

“We have not been good enough, and we need to be better,” he said. “We will be.”

The formal transfer of power concluded after the previous prime minister, Keir Starmer, visited King Charles at Buckingham Palace for a private meeting in which he officially resigned.

That meeting cleared the way for Burnham to visit the King soon afterwards and be invited to form government, elevating him to the top post.

In a brief statement, the King confirmed that Burnham accepted the invitation and “kissed hands upon his appointment” – the traditional language used to describe a prime minister accepting the monarch’s invitation to lead government.

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The formal events were broadcast live on multiple television networks and online, while a helicopter flew overhead to capture the moments on a warm summer day in London.

Speaking outside Downing Street after the palace meeting, without notes or a lectern, Burnham said he was “acutely” conscious he was the seventh prime minister since 2016.

“It requires my generation of politicians to raise our game and rise to the new challenge,” he said.

“Britain needs to show the world that we can regain our stability once again, and that is our challenge: to make politics work, to make it work better.”

Burnham spoke directly to the main television camera to give a personal assurance to the British people that he would do better than previous prime ministers.

“I know people at home are fed up with politics. I hear you,” he said, promising to deliver a “circuit breaker” for a system he said had taken wrong turns since the 1980s.

Burnham vowed to decentralise power from London, reindustrialise the economy, end rough sleeping, ensure stronger public control of key industries, build more homes and improve mental health support.

He said he would outline help with the cost of living, in a funded government policy, within his first 24 hours.

“It’s about putting the right values and the right standards at the heart of government,” he said.

“I will put the care of people at the heart of everything I do. I will give this my all, and I ask you all to pull with me.

“Let’s build a new national sense of unity, of common purpose, and positivity. Let us make this the moment when Britain starts to believe again – the moment we bring back hope.”

Upon those words, he entered 10 Downing Street with his wife, Marie-France van Heel, to be greeted by top political staff and other advisers.

Earlier, Starmer had left the official residence to give his final address as prime minister in front of dozens of ministerial colleagues, staff and family members including his wife, Victoria.

“My work is done. In 6½ years, I took our party from a historic defeat in 2019, changed it so it was fit to face the country, and won a landslide general election victory in 2024,” he said.

“Since then, it has been the privilege of my life to serve you and this great country as prime minister, and I am confident that Britain is now stronger and fairer than it was two years ago.”

Starmer said Burnham had his “full support”.

“As I now pass the baton to Andy Burnham, I wish him every success,” he said.

“I go with good grace, I go with a smile, and I go proud of everything that we have achieved.”

After being hugged by his wife and embracing some of his supporters, Starmer walked to a waiting car with Victoria and drove to the palace to see the King.

Buckingham Palace confirmed soon afterwards that Charles was “graciously pleased to accept” Starmer’s resignation – the same wording used for the statements about the departures of previous prime ministers.

The meetings at Buckingham Palace formally concluded a long fight within the Labour Party to replace Starmer after growing discontent over his leadership, and a year of planning by Burnham and his allies to take power within the party.

In being named to the top post on Monday, Burnham became the nation’s seventh prime minister since 2016.

While he has set out broad ambitions in speeches and interviews, he is yet to name his cabinet ministers and settle disputes among his supporters about who should hold the key Treasury post of chancellor of the exchequer.

Bond market investors are watching the cabinet decision closely, given the country’s net public debt is £2.9 trillion ($5.6 trillion) – equivalent to 95 per cent of annual economic output – and rising.

Burnham, who has spent the past nine years as mayor of Greater Manchester, set out broad themes about his plans in a speech three weeks ago, knowing he had the numbers within the Labour Party to lead the government.

“We will create a more streamlined state with a clearer purpose to power up all parts of the country and put a laser-like focus on growth and regeneration – good growth,” he said.

Burnham, however, captured attention with a related pledge to shift some of the powers of 10 Downing Street in London – near the major public service departments around Whitehall – so that a new unit of government would be responsible for northern England and other areas outside the capital.

Burnham called his proposed new office “Number 10 North”, and the phrase dominated media coverage of his speech, although he did not outline any details on how it would work.

Labour has 403 seats in the House of Commons, giving it a comfortable majority. The Conservative Party has 117 seats, the Liberal Democrats have 71, Reform UK has seven and the Greens have five. Small parties and independents make up the rest.

But the divisions within the Labour parliamentary party have weakened the government, while Reform UK leader Nigel Farage has made big gains in local government elections and has soared in the public opinion polls as a potential prime minister.

Burnham’s rise began in earnest on May 19 when he overcame resistance from Starmer’s allies and gained party approval to run as the Labour candidate at a byelection for the seat of Makerfield, which he won on June 19.

Starmer announced on June 22 that he would resign. With Labour MPs making it clear they wanted a new leader, Starmer set up an internal party timeline to decide his replacement. When party officials called for nominations, Burnham was the sole candidate – an extraordinary development given he had become a member of the House of Commons only days earlier.

While Burnham is the seventh prime minister in roughly a decade, he is also being described as the sixth prime minister in 10 years.

Former Conservative prime minister David Cameron stepped down on July 13, 2016 – 10 years and one week ago. He was followed by Theresa May, Boris Johnson, Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak from the Conservative Party. They were followed by Starmer and Burnham.

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