Andy Burnham is Britain's new Prime Minister, having met with King Charles at Buckingham Palace in London. Earlier, former Prime Minister Keir Starmer defended his record in his final adddress to the country, saying the UK was "stronger and fairer," than it was when he was elected.
Starmer made the remarks before he headed to Buckingham Palace to hand his resignation to King Charles.
"I took our party from a historic defeat in 2019… and won a landslide election victory in 2024. Since then it has been the privilege of my life to serve you as Prime Minister. I’m confident Britain is stronger and fairer than it was two years ago," Starmer said in his farewell message speech as UK leader.
Starmer said he had acted on manifesto promises the Labour Party made to the British pubic in 2024, namely bringing immigration down, improving the NHS and enhancing the UK's international reputation.
He also mentioned Ukraine in his final message and stressed the importance of defending the UK from its enemies.
Starmer wished Burnham "every success" in his speech and said the former Mayor of Greater Manchester has his "full support."
Burnham faces a daunting inbox, including stagnant productivity, stubborn inflation and a worsening housing crisis.
The 56-year-old is expected to announce plans to cap bus fares, bring water and energy back into public ownership and launch the biggest council house building programme since the mid 20th century in a speech.
He has already announced the scrapping of a £1.8 billion ($2.4 billion) for all employees to hold a digital identity document, a scheme designed to tackle illegal migration but which has been deeply unpopular.
Describing his election to become Labour Leader as "the most significant change moment in our politics for 40 years", Burnham has promised to radically change Britain's political system to quickly raise living standards.
British Prime Minister Andy Burnham has pledged the country’s biggest political and economic reforms in four decades.
“We will make this moment a circuit breaker for Britain,” he said, promising to decentralise power, revive regions affected by deindustrialisation and promote problem-solving over political point-scoring.
But there are already signs of problems with reporting infighting between Labour politicians over top jobs in Burnham’s cabinet.
An early frontrunner for the position of Chancellor, ex-Labour leader Ed Miliband, is rumoured to have now been looked over in favour of Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood.
Burnham called on his party to ignore "speculation" on Friday and said he had not yet decided on his team.
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Leaders of countries from the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) have agreed to hold coordinated population censuses around 2030. They took the decision at the CIS Council of Heads of State meeting in Awaza, Turkmenistan on Friday, media reported.
The explosion at King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh on Saturday afternoon killed at least 12 people and injured a further 309, according to Saudi Arabia’s Civil Aviation Authority. The airport remains closed until further notice.
Britain and Israel have reached a temporary compromise over the future of the British Consulate General in East Jerusalem, easing a diplomatic dispute that had threatened to further strain relations between the two countries.
South African judge Navanethem “Navi” Pillay won the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday “for her efforts to promote peace and international law,” the Norwegian Nobel Committee said.
The U.S. has imposed sanctions on the International Criminal Court (ICC) on Friday (9 October) escalating tensions with European allies and potentially targeting companies that provide services to the tribunal. The move came hours after former ICC judge Navi Pillay won the Nobel Peace Prize.
Indian police detained more than 2,000 protesters in Delhi on Saturday as authorities blocked a planned demonstration calling for the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over disputed changes to voter lists.
At least 12 people, including three children, have been killed in a Russian attack on the Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia, a day after U.S. President Donald Trump announced a deal to ease sanctions on Russian diesel.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has criticised U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to ease sanctions on Russian diesel exports, questioning why Moscow was granted an economic benefit without an apparent concession towards ending the war in Ukraine.
Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed surprise after Donald Trump mediated the Armenia-Azerbaijan peace agreement in 2025, the U.S. President said at a rally in New York state on Friday.
The United Nations has condemned a sharp rise in attacks on civilians in Ukraine, reporting that more than 100 people were killed and at least 429 injured in a single week as Russian strikes hit residential areas, passenger buses and critical infrastructure.
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