LONDON (AP) — Prime Minister Andy Burnham acknowledged his precarious perch Monday as the seventh British leader in just over a decade as he set out an ambitious but vague vision to create a new political and economic establishment.
Burnham used his inaugural speech as prime minister to renew his theme of decentralizing power as he promised to end street sleeping by homeless people. He said he would deliver a “circuit breaker” for a system he says has taken wrong turns since the 1980s when many public services were privatized.
“We will change politics to make it more collaborative, more about problem-solving than point-scoring,” he said. “We will take power out of here and carry it into every postcode in the land so that they can do more and in doing more, build a new economy where we put life’s essentials back under stronger public control to make them affordable to you again.”
After weeks as leader-in-waiting, Burnham officially became prime minister during a meeting with King Charles III at Buckingham Palace, where the monarch asked him to form a government.
He succeeded Keir Starmer, who stepped down just two years after winning a landslide election victory, on a day when Britain’s political turbulence gave way, at least temporarily, to smooth choreography.
Buckingham Palace has released a photo of the king and Burnham shaking hands. The ceremony known as “kissing hands” marks the transfer of power, but didn't actually involve any hand kissing.
Burnham said he was “acutely conscious” of the revolving door he was walking through at 10 Downing Street.
“This a moment for reflection and new resolution,” he said. “It requires my generation of politicians to raise our game and rise to the new challenge. 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 became the seventh U.K. prime minister since 2016 in a now well-rehearsed handover after replacing Starmer as leader of the center-left governing Labour Party on Friday. Starmer announced last month he would resign after missteps and judgment errors that eroded his standing with his party and the public.
Just over an hour earlier, Starmer made a short farewell speech in the same place outside the prime minister’s residence, saying “my work is done.”
The outgoing leader said Britain is now “stronger and fairer than it was two years ago,” when he took office.
“I go with good grace, I go with a smile and I go proud of everything that we have achieved,” Starmer said before heading to Buckingham Palace to offer his resignation to the king. It was an offer “His Majesty was graciously pleased to accept,” the palace said in a statement.
Changing leaders in mid-term
Britain’s parliamentary democracy allows governing parties to change leaders, and thus prime ministers, without the need for a general election. The next national poll doesn’t have to be held until 2029, though Burnham can call one sooner if he wants.
Burnham was the only candidate in a contest to become the party’s new leader, securing nominations from 379 of the 403 Labour lawmakers in the House of Commons.
Burnham will confront many of the same struggles as his predecessor: a sluggish economy, a cost-of-living crisis, overstretched public services, concerns about migration and foreign affairs that include wars in Ukraine and the Middle East.
The new leader pledges a new style of politics
The former mayor of Greater Manchester previously pledged to make politics “less toxic,” improve living standards across the country and “bring back the hope we have all been missing.”
Critics and supporters alike will be clamoring for details of how Burnham plans to fulfill his pledges when he announces parts of a 10-year plan on Tuesday.
“Fundamentally, it only will work if you can generate significant economic growth, because it’s the lack of growth that’s really holding the country back,” said Joshi Herrmann, who has followed Burnham’s career as founder of Manchester news site The Mill.
Attention will quickly turn to who Burnham will appoint to his Cabinet. He's expected to make changes to Starmer’s top team, especially to the biggest jobs of Treasury chief, foreign secretary and home secretary.
Burnham has praised Starmer’s achievements, saying he would “build on the foundation laid” by his predecessor.
Starmer became Labour leader in 2020 after one of the party's worst election defeats, and led it to a landslide victory four years later. But he was soon defeated by the challenges of governing.
At his final Prime Minister’s Questions session in Parliament on Wednesday, Starmer defended his government’s record on the international stage — especially its support for Ukraine — and its domestic policy achievements. He mentioned stronger protections for working people, a reduction in child poverty, a law designed to stop official cover-ups after tragedies, and higher defense spending.
“In six and a half 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,” Starmer said in his final remarks before leaving Downing St, hand-in-hand with his wife Victoria.
“Since then, it has been the privilege of my life to serve you and this great country as prime minister. I am confident that Britain is now stronger and fairer than it was two years ago.”
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Associated Press journalist Brian Melley, in London, contributed.
