Andy Burnham, the former mayor of Greater Manchester and the new leader of the Labour Party, became Britain’s 7th prime minister in a decade on Monday, 20 July ’26.
Burnham replaced the unpopular Keir Starmer, who announced his resignation to end a tenure of just two years in office.
Speaking to reporters outside 10, Downing Street, minutes after being formally appointed by King Charles III, Burnham, 56, pledged to ease the cost of living for ordinary people, decentralise political power, revitalise industry, and end street sleeping by homeless people.
Burnham quickly got to work in forming his government.
Any Burnham’s digging into his overflowing in-tray on his first day as Britain’s prime minister.
During the coming hours, he’s likely to appoint a new Cabinet. The appointment will probably be after sweeping away several senior figures from Keir Starmer’s administration. It may include Treasury chief Rachel Reeves besides Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy.
On Tuesday, 21 July, Burnham intended to announce the first of his plans in helping people with the cost of living.
Burnham added that fixing the care system is a must.
He was also of the view that he wouldn’t want to leave office without improving Britain’s patchy access to social care, especially for those who need it due to age, illness or disability.
He added that it’s a pressing issue in Britain now faced with an ageing population. This issue has also perplexed previous Labour and Conservative governments.
Burnham, who has 1st-hand experience of the issue due to his father moving with Alzheimer’s, says that there needs to be a conversation with the public about how to meet the costs of long-term care. He added that currently, many people must spend all their savings and even sell their properties in order to pay for care.
Burnham told reporters that the status is not defensible. How many people have lost their homes as well as their savings in that time? Britain needs to face it as well as fix it.
