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Andy Burnham confirmed as new Labour leader, UK PM-designate
Andy Burnham , the former mayor of Greater Manchester, will take charge at 10 Downing Street next week.
Andy Burnham has been confirmed as the new Labour Party leader and UK PM-designate, who will replace outgoing Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
Burnham, the former mayor of Greater Manchester, will take charge at 10 Downing Street next week.
Labour Party's National Executive Committee (NEC) chair Shabana Mahmood made the announcement at a special party conference in London on Friday. "There was only one nominated MP… hardly a nail-biter," she said.
Burnham will be invited by King Charles III to form a new government on Monday, after Starmer formally tenders his resignation to the British monarch.
The announcement was a forgone conclusion after he secured nominations from 379 of the 403 Labour lawmakers in the House of Commons as of Thursday night.
“We’re going to give them hope back. This is a proud moment you have given me and my family today, and an emotional one, but it is one for which I am ready,” Burnham said in his first speech as leader. He said that he had not yet made up his mind about the composition of his top team.
"I haven't made any decisions yet about who will be in that top team. But I will soon, and when I have, you will see it reflects all parts of our party, all communities," Burnham said.
After winning a special election for a seat in Parliament a month ago, he pledged to build a politics “based on unity and hope” and an economy that spreads growth evenly across the country.
How will Andy Burnham's governance look?
Despite his offer of hope to places that feel 'left behind', there is still much to know about how Andy Burnham will govern the UK.
He has given one speech since returning to parliament last month after winning a seat in Makerfield, the start of a four-week process to remove Keir Starmer, whose unpopularity across Britain turned his lawmakers against him, and take his place as Prime Minister.
In the said speech, Burnham sketched out some of his domestic agenda, saying he wanted to oversee the "biggest rebalancing of power" from London to Britain's regions — something he believes will reduce inequality and the anger felt by "left-behind communities" who have increasingly flocked to Nigel Farage's Reform UK.
That message of having a plan to thwart the rise of Reform won over Labour lawmakers, who feared they would lose their parliamentary seats to veteran Brexit campaigner's populist party at the next national election, due by 2029. Reform has topped opinion polls for months.
Some of that sheen has been tarnished in recent weeks by Farage's acceptance of funds from wealthy donors, perhaps giving Burnham an opening to revive Labour's fortunes. But experts say that the window for doing so is short.
