Andy Burnham, the new Prime Minister, was met with a blunt observation during a visit to a Jewish Care home in north west London. One resident, not recognising him, joked that the country’s leader 'keeps changing every five minutes'.
An awkward yet humorous exchange
Burnham was touring the care home to introduce his new plans for social care in England when he encountered a resident who asked: 'You are the local candidate, are you?' Burnham chuckled and referenced the recent Makerfield by-election he won in June, replying: 'I was a local candidate; I had a by-election a few weeks ago. I am now the Prime Minister.'
Stunned, the resident asked: 'You're what?' A nurse helped him out, telling him: 'He's the Prime Minister.' The resident then asked: 'What, a new one?' Seeing the funny side, Burnham joked: 'Another one.' His counterpart added: 'Well it keeps changing every five minutes.' Burnham answered with a smile: 'I know.'
Context of frequent leadership changes
The country has had seven prime ministers in the 10 years since the 2016 Brexit referendum. After only two years in office, Keir Starmer quit in June and was replaced by Burnham this month. One of his first acts as Prime Minister has been a pledge to end a decade of government inaction on fixing social care in England.
Burnham's social care plans
Speaking at the care home this afternoon, Burnham said it had been a 'major dereliction of public duty' that previous governments had addressed the crisis. He plans to introduce a new national care service and wants care workers to have better pay and training. In a sign of his determination to fix the sector, he said a landmark review of social care by Baroness Casey would be published next summer, instead of 2028. Burnham admitted his plans for social care 'will require difficult decisions' that he said would be 'put before the country' for the people's consent. This afternoon he also held talks with the Lib Dems and Conservative Party to generate cross-party backing for his plans.
