Andy Burnham sworn in as UK's seventh prime minister in a decade, pledges immediate cost-of-living relief

A revolving door at Number 10

Andy Burnham was formally appointed prime minister of the United Kingdom on Monday morning after being received by King Charles III at Buckingham Palace. He is the seventh person to hold the office since the 2016 Brexit referendum, a churn that Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch had warned Labour about during Starmer's final Prime Minister's Questions the previous Wednesday. Burnham's arrival at Downing Street, accompanied by his wife Marie-France van Heel, was met with applause from friends and family gathered outside the famous black door.

From 'king of the north' to prime minister

Burnham, 56, built his political authority not in Westminster but as mayor of Greater Manchester, a role that earned him the nickname 'king of the north' during the pandemic. He returned to the House of Commons through a carefully orchestrated by-election in Makerfield after Keir Starmer's resignation last month, and on Friday he was elected Labour leader with near-unanimous backing from MPs, unions and local party branches. Born in Aintree in 1970 to a working-class Catholic family, he studied English Literature at Cambridge, where he met his Dutch wife, and served as an MP for Leigh from 2001 before holding three ministerial posts under Tony Blair and Gordon Brown.

Immediate pledges and a fragile economy

In his first speech outside Number 10, Burnham said the government would approve immediate measures on Tuesday to ease the cost-of-living crisis, part of a wider plan to be completed later this year with reforms for the next decade. He promised to build 'a new economy' and reindustrialise the country. The economic inheritance is difficult: the OECD forecasts GDP growth of just 0.9% this year and 1.1% in 2027, while inflation remained at 3% in May, above the Bank of England's 2% target.

His capacity to issue more debt or raise taxes is very limited, and he needs to transmit confidence to the markets.

The battle for the Treasury

The most consequential cabinet decision is the choice of Chancellor of the Exchequer. Current incumbent Rachel Reeves is widely expected to be replaced. Energy Security Minister Ed Miliband, a close friend of Burnham who helped force Starmer's resignation, is a leading candidate, but his perceived anti-business reputation has drawn fire from trade unions. Unite general secretary Sharon Graham told The Observer that appointing Miliband would be 'putting a noose around the neck of job creation'. Shabana Mahmood has also been mentioned as a possible alternative.

Starmer's exit and Burnham's tone

Keir Starmer, leaving Downing Street with his wife Victoria, said he was proud of his achievements and that 'the United Kingdom is today a stronger and safer country than two years ago'. Burnham struck a more sombre note, acknowledging that the political class 'has not been up to the task' and that Britons are 'fed up' with politics. He framed his premiership as a moment of reflection, not triumphalism, and said only political stability could deliver improvements. 'I have a plan,' he declared on Friday, vowing to defeat the new British right with a strategy built on unity.