Andy Burnham has officially become the new Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and promised to "bring back hope" and take action to end rough sleeping. The Merseyside-born politician visited King Charles and accepted an invitation to form a new government.
Inaugural speech outside Number 10
After his trip to Buckingham Palace, Mr Burnham returned to Downing Street to a rapturous reception from friends and family. Among those gathered were his closest friend and political ally, Liverpool City Region Mayor Steve Rotheram, and Everton legend Peter Reid. He was supported by his wife Marie-France van Heel, his mother, and his children.
Speaking outside Number 10, Mr Burnham said: "I have just come from Buckingham Palace where I have accepted His Majesty The King's invitation to form a government. In doing so I am acutely conscious that I am the sixth person in the last ten years to walk up this street, the seventh Prime Minister since 2016 - making this a moment for reflection and new resolution."
A call for change and stability
He added: "It requires my generation of politicians to raise our game and rise to the new challenge. 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."
Mr Burnham acknowledged public frustration: "I know people at home are fed up with politics. I hear you and I want to be honest with you. We have not been good enough and we need to be better - we will be."
New economic and political model
The new Prime Minister outlined a vision for change: "We will make this moment a circuit breaker for Britain, bringing forward the biggest changes in the last 40 years - a new political model and a new economic model. In the 1980s Britain took some wrong turns, political power was centralised, economic power was privatised, large parts of the country deindustrialised and they still haven't recovered."
He promised to "build a new economy, where we put life's essentials back under stronger public control to make them affordable to you again" and to use public procurement to "back British industry".
Immediate action and a 10-year plan
Mr Burnham announced a "New 10-year-plan for Britain" to be brought forward later this year, outlining a path to where he believes people want Britain to be. However, he said there are some things he can do right now to give people "breathing space" and help with the cost of living, promising to set out new measures as soon as tomorrow, including how they are paid for.
The former Greater Manchester Mayor, speaking without notes, promised to help more young people into work by changing the education system and pledged to build more council homes to help bring the welfare bill down.
First policy promise: end rough sleeping
Making his first policy promise, he said: "I will soon go through that door and issue my first instruction, to end rough sleeping" - resulting in a huge cheer from those gathered in Downing Street.
The nation's new leader concluded: "It is about putting the right values and the right standards at the heart of government. I will put the care of people at the heart of everything I do. I will give this my all and I ask you to pull with me. Let's build a new national sense of unity, of common purpose and positivity. Let's make this the moment Britain starts to believe again, let's make this the moment we bring back hope."
