Andy Burnham confirmed as Labour leader, to become UK PM on Monday

Labour's National Executive Committee chair Shabana Mahmood made the announcement at a special party conference in London

Andy Burnham was on Friday confirmed as the newly elected leader of the United Kingdom’s (UK’s) governing Labour Party, becoming the prime minister (PM)-designate to take charge at 10 Downing Street next week.

 

The member of Parliament for Makerfield, on track to become UK’s  seventh PM in a decade, admitted that it was the “last chance” for Labour to deliver the change promised at the last general election in July 2024.

 

“We are going to give people hope back,” said Burnham in his first speech as party leader. “I am ready to lead, building on the foundations laid by Keir Starmer,” he said, thanking the outgoing leader for his “service to the country”.

 

Burnham, the sole candidate in the leadership race since Starmer announced his resignation last month, vowed to “set Britain on a new path” with a less toxic political climate and a shift away from centralised power in London.

 

“I will be a leader for every region and nation in this great country, and this party will be unashamedly Labour in our priorities and in the decisions we take,” he said. 

 

“We want to give your area more power to build the council and social homes that you desperately need, more power to improve your high street, backing local businesses such as the pubs and the shops that bring them to life... more power to re-industrialise,” said the PM-in-waiting.

 

To highlight a shift in leadership priorities, the former mayor of Greater Manchester took aim at the Opposition Tories’ “sweeping privatisation agenda” which began under former PM Margaret Thatcher as he indicated plans for greater nationalisation. 

 

“Britain took a series of wrong turns in the 1980s. Political power was centralised and economic power was privatised. The country surrendered control of the essentials, housing, water, energy, transport and left people exposed to higher costs,” he noted.