Burnham vows stability as he takes office as UK's PM

The United Kingdom's new prime minister — the country's seventh leader in just over a decade — started his time in office on Monday by promising much-needed stability.

Claiming to have a 10-year plan, Andy Burnham, the former mayor of Greater Manchester who wrestled control of the nation from predecessor Keir Starmer, said in his first speech as prime minister that it was a moment for "honesty and reflection", not "triumphalism".

"I'm not saying that means I'm setting out to say I'm going to be here for 10 years," he said. "It's more that we're not in the right place structurally."

Speaking from 10 Downing Street, he said he plans to offer the British people "more breathing room" and "responsible" decision-making to restore their confidence in government.

"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," he added.

Burnham, who was declared leader of the ruling Labour Party on Friday, became prime minister on Monday, after he and Starmer met King Charles III to formally pass the baton.

The new prime minister also said many people in the country feel as though the nation is in decline and that they "don't have the ability to turn things around".

"That's why we will change politics to make it more collaborative, more about problem-solving than point-scoring, and we will take power out of here (London) and carry it into every postcode in the land," he said. He also promised to "build a new economy" where "life's essentials" are under public control, "to make them affordable to you again, reindustrializing Britain using public procurement to back British industry".

Burnham took over as prime minister after Labour Party members of Parliament became frustrated with Starmer's leadership style, which some said was uninspiring. It followed Starmer's much-criticized appointment of Peter Mandelson as the UK's ambassador to the United States. Mandelson was believed to have been close to the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Labour Party MPs also lost confidence in Starmer after the party did poorly in recent local elections.

Despite Starmer having led the Labour Party to a landslide win in the general election of July 2024, disgruntled Labour Party MPs persuaded him to resign, clearing the way for Burnham to stand unopposed as party leader, which meant, under the rules of party, that he became its automatic choice for prime minister. He will not need to contest a general election until Aug 15, 2029, unless he decides to seek an earlier mandate.

Burnham, who becomes the UK's 59th prime minister and its eighth from the center-left Labour Party, plans to use the ongoing six-week summer recess, during which Parliament is closed, to go on a "listening tour" of the UK, to hear what issues are important to people.

Xing Yi contributed to this story.

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