Andy Burnham has vowed to set the nation on a fresh course as he delivered his inaugural Labour conference speech in his role as party leader and Prime Minister.
Pledging to hand the country greater control over housing, energy and water, as well as overhauling the social care system, Mr Burnham declared he was prepared to "break the mould" to bring an end to the stagnation and division that has defined British politics for a generation.
Prime Minister's pledge to delegates
Speaking to delegates in Liverpool, he said: "This country isn't where any of us would want it to be. Politics-as-usual has taken Britain backwards. More of the same isn't good enough. That's why I feel I have to break the mould today."
Mr Burnham, who succeeded Sir Keir Starmer in No 10 in July, argued that there was a "sense of the powers-that-be pulling against the people, not with them". "If there's one thing I want to put right, it's that," he said.
Criticism of post-1980s policies
Taking aim at the changes introduced since Margaret Thatcher was in office in the 1980s, Mr Burnham said: "Britain has been on the wrong path for a long time."
"Deindustrialisation. Deregulation. Privatisation. Austerity. Brexit. And what has it given us? A country run for vested interests, not in the public interest."
He compared his task in building a new form of politics to the 1945 Labour government's efforts to reshape the country in the wake of the Second World War. Mr Burnham said: "We built the common good. Or at least we did until the 1980s.
"Suddenly, the common wealth we had created for the many was seen as an opportunity for the few. Homes. Water. Energy. Transport. Care. Broken up and sold off.
"The British right talk about 'taking back control'. Never let them forget: they are the ones who gave it away in the first place."
