Burnham pledges stability as he becomes UK prime minister

Andy Burnham took office as Britain’s new prime minister on Monday, promising to end rough sleeping, ease the cost of living and make his premiership a “circuit-breaker” after years of political churn.

The former mayor of Greater Manchester replaced Sir Keir Starmer after becoming Labour leader last week. He is the UK’s fourth prime minister in five years and the seventh since 2016, according to the BBC. Al Jazeera described him as Britain’s seventh premier in a decade.

Burnham’s appointment was confirmed after he met King Charles III at Buckingham Palace, where the monarch formally invites a new prime minister to form a government. Starmer had earlier held a final private audience with the King before leaving office.

Speaking outside No 10 Downing Street to staffers and supporters, Burnham said Britain needed to regain stability. He delivered the address without a lectern or notes, a break from recent Downing Street tradition.

“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.”

He said he was “fed up” with the country’s revolving door of leadership and called the moment one for “reflection and new resolution” in British politics. Politicians, he said, must “make politics work better” and “raise our game and rise to the new challenge”.

Burnham said his first instruction as prime minister would be “to end rough sleeping in our country”. No 10 later announced an extra £340m for the effort over the next five years, the BBC reported.

He also promised announcements beginning Tuesday to help people with the cost of living, saying the public needed “breathing space now”. A broader 10-year plan for Britain is expected later this year, with Burnham pledging to build a new economy and put “life’s essentials back under public control”. Al Jazeera reported that he said the plan would come later in 2026.

“We will make this moment a circuit-breaker for Britain, bringing forward the biggest changes in the last 40 years. A new political model and a new economic model,” Burnham said.

Other priorities he named included changing the education system to help young people into work, building more council homes, funding defence commitments and keeping to the UK’s spending and debt rules.

Burnham is expected to name a new cabinet, with announcements due Monday afternoon. The choice of chancellor will be closely watched, along with the appointments of foreign secretary and home secretary. Rachel Reeves, Starmer’s Downing Street neighbour, is not expected to stay on as chancellor under Burnham, the BBC reported.

On foreign policy, Burnham said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy would be among the first foreign leaders he calls, promising that British support would remain “resolute”.

“I will be with him 100 percent, as Keir Starmer has been, and Keir has done quite an incredible job in not just backing Ukraine but being there in a personal way,” Burnham said. “And I will be absolutely there for him in the same way.”

Al Jazeera reported that Burnham also indicated he would have an early call with U.S. President Donald Trump.

Starmer used his departure speech in Downing Street to defend his time in office, saying serving as prime minister had been “the privilege of my life” and that Burnham had his “full support”, according to Al Jazeera. The BBC reported that Starmer repeated themes from the speech announcing his resignation in June, including Labour’s recovery and efforts to lower child poverty.

“I go with good grace, I go with a smile,” Starmer said, adding that Britain was “now stronger and fairer”.