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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