Newly appointed United Kingdom Prime Minister Andy Burnham has pledged to end political infighting, launch the biggest council house building programme since the post-war period, and devolve power across all regions of Britain.
Delivering his first address outside 10 Downing Street on Monday after being formally appointed by King Charles III, Burnham said the moment represented the most significant political change in Britain in 40 years.
“We are united today, and we put the power that comes from that unity at the service of people and places who have been waiting too long for politics to let them hope again,” he said. “We are going to give them hope back.”
Burnham, 56, said Britain faced a moment “not for triumphalism but for honesty and reflection” and acknowledged he was acutely conscious of being the sixth person to walk up Downing Street as prime minister in just 10 years.
He argued that the unprecedented turnover in national leadership underlined the urgent need for a more stable and responsible politics.
On party unity, Burnham said: “I will work relentlessly to build a culture of one Labour team because change starts with us. We will not beat Britain’s new right if we are consumed by infighting and pulling in different directions.
That is, and always has been, an indulgence that falls heaviest on the people who need Labour most.”
He pledged to tackle the United Kingdom’s housing crisis, which he described as having a ruinous impact on public finances.
“Everything starts with a good home, and this country finally has to put that at the top of its priority list,” he said, promising to oversee the biggest council house building programme since the post-war period.
On devolution, Burnham vowed to bring about the biggest rebalancing of power the country had seen.
“I am going to give Britain the circuit breaker it needs, by building a more collaborative politics in Westminster, by taking power out of the centre and putting it in the hands of the people and places who can use it best,” he said.
“The days of Whitehall fighting the devolution of power into the regions and nations are over for good.”
He also promised to pursue a distinctively Labour political direction.
“We will not try to out-Green the Greens or out-Reform Reform,” he said, adding that his government would govern for all parts of the United Kingdom.
“I will be a leader for the North, the South, the East and the West. For Scotland, Wales and for Northern Ireland.”
Burnham succeeds Sir Keir Starmer, who resigned on 22 June following a Labour parliamentary revolt triggered by falling opinion poll ratings and the rising electoral threat of Nigel Farage’s Reform UK party.
He takes office facing a sluggish economy, overstretched public services, and a cost-of-living squeeze affecting millions of British households.
(The Whistler)
