Andy Burnham has been officially confirmed as the new leader of the Labour Party, declaring “I have a plan” to give people “hope back” and set a political direction that is “distinctively Labour”. He made the remarks at a special conference in central London on Friday, the final step before replacing Sir Keir Starmer as prime minister next week.
Burnham's Vision for a New Politics
In his acceptance speech, Mr Burnham vowed to “build a new politics” with less division and factionalism, saying the party needed to unite if it was to thwart “Britain’s new right”. Warning Labour had a “last chance to change”, he pledged to be “authentically us” instead of “wearing too many Tory clothes”.
The former Greater Manchester mayor returned to Westminster as Makerfield MP last month and gained overwhelming support from Labour MPs to take over from Sir Keir after he announced his resignation. Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood, as chairwoman of Labour’s ruling National Executive Committee, confirmed the results of the leadership contest: Mr Burnham was backed by 379 of the party’s 403 MPs and all 11 unions affiliated with the party.
Acknowledging Challenges and Promising Change
While praising Sir Keir for putting Labour “back in a position to change people’s lives” and for passing the Hillsborough Law, Mr Burnham suggested the country was in a state which “does not work for working class communities”. “Forgotten places everywhere up and down this country” were calling “for a return of the Labour they once knew,” he said, adding: “We will be that version of Labour again.”
Promising to serve “people and places who have been waiting too long for politics to let them hope again”, he said: “We’re going to give them hope back.” The new Labour leader also acknowledged that his generation of politicians had failed to challenge a political culture and economic model that did not work well enough for ordinary people.
Devolution and Unity
Mr Burnham repeated his commitment to devolve power away from Westminster to give people “more power over life’s essentials”, while countering accusations he was too focused on Manchester by saying he would speak up for all parts of the UK. He said he would “work to build a new politics” the country was “crying out for” as he warned: “This is a last chance to change.”
He said he wanted to eradicate “infighting”, the “insidious briefing culture” and the “factionalism” that has “bedevilled” the party. Saying he had “supported all our Labour leaders in my lifetime”, he said: “We won’t beat Britain’s new right if we are consumed by infighting and pulling in different directions.”
Challenges Ahead
Mr Burnham steps into the job at a time when his party has trailed Reform UK in opinion polls for nearly 18 months. Labour will be hoping his presence will spark a bounce and turn around its fortunes. He said he would seek more cross-party consensus, saying that could make political discourse “that little bit less toxic”.
He pledged to “set a direction that is distinctively Labour”, adding: “We won’t try to outgreen the Greens or out-Reform Reform, or doing what we’ve done in the past of wearing too many Tory clothes.” Mr Burnham will enter Downing Street on Monday to become the UK’s seventh prime minister in a decade, with all eyes on his policy agenda and Cabinet appointments.
Cabinet Speculation and Union Reactions
Mr Burnham said: “I haven’t made any decisions yet about who will be in that top team, but I will soon, and when I have, you will see it reflects all parts of our party, all communities, and it will reflect your own place within this great party of ours – a stronger, more united Labour Party lifting up a stronger and more united Britain.”
Unions urged the incoming administration to act quickly. TUC general secretary Paul Nowak said: “Andy Burnham’s government needs to hit the ground running and focus relentlessly on improving the living standards of working people.” Linda Hobson, who chairs Unison’s Labour Link committee, said Mr Burnham must “show he’s the right person to deliver the party’s promise of change when Labour won its landslide in 2024”.
The centre-left Mainstream grouping of Labour MPs has called for him to appoint a “progressive chancellor”. In what appears to be a reference to Energy Secretary Ed Miliband, who is reportedly in the running for the job, it urged the incoming prime minister to pick “someone who understands the threat that climate breakdown poses to people and planet and who has the courage to rebuild our state’s productive capacity”. Ms Mahmood, whose hardline asylum reforms have proved divisive among Labour MPs, is also believed to be a top contender.
