Today's Edition
LONDON (AGENCIES)
Veteran UK politician Andy Burnham was on Friday confirmed as the new leader of the ruling Labour Party, and is now set to be Britain's next prime minister.
"There being no other eligibly nominated candidate, it is therefore my honour to declare that the duly elected leader of the Labour Party is Andy Burnham," interior minister Shabana Mahmood told a special party conference.
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,” Burnham said in his first speech as leader.
"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, the former mayor of Greater Manchester, has been prime minister-in-waiting for weeks, but he has revealed little detail about his policy priorities. He will arrive in Number 10 Downing Street largely unknown to voters outside Manchester.
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.
He has held no press conferences and given few interviews.
Burnham brings a more relaxed style of leadership than the rather stern departing Prime Minister Keir Starmer Starmer, and is regarded as one of the Labour Party’s best communicators. But he faces many of the same problems as his predecessor, including a sluggish economy, a cost-of-living squeeze fueled by wars and overstretched public services.
Burnham began sketching out some of his priorities in his first speech as Labour leader, and will say that he will have the "courage to fix the big things that politics has neglected,” his office said.
He will highlight plans to focus on economic renewal, more public control of key sectors and creating new modern industrial jobs.
In a social media video posted late on Thursday, Burnham said he also would make a priority of tackling the patchy access to social care for those who need it because of age, illness or disability. It’s a pressing issue in a country with an aging population, and one that has foxed previous Labour and Conservative governments.
Starmer announced last month that he would resign after two years in office marred by missteps and judgment errors that eroded his standing with his party and the public.
He will remain prime minister until Monday, when he formally tenders his resignation to King Charles III.
The king will then ask Burnham to form a government.
Britain’s parliamentary democracy allows governing parties to change leaders, and thus prime ministers, without the need for a general election.
The next national election doesn’t have to be held until 2029.
New prime ministers have come with increasing frequency in recent years. Burnham will be the UK's seventh leader since 2016.
