Andy Burnham will on Monday become Britain’s sixth prime minister since 2016, taking office with a daunting list of economic and political challenges as he succeeds Keir Starmer following Labour’s leadership transition.
The 56-year-old former Mayor of Greater Manchester will formally take over after King Charles III invites him to form a new government.
Burnham is expected to deliver his first address outside 10 Downing Street shortly after Starmer officially resigns.
His appointment comes just two years after Starmer led Labour to a landslide victory that ended 14 years of Conservative rule, but mounting political setbacks, policy reversals and controversies forced the outgoing prime minister to step down last month.
In an interview with The Times published on Sunday, Burnham pledged to usher in a new era of governance, saying Britain needed a decisive break from years of political instability.
“What we’ve been doing hasn’t been working. That’s the way I see it,” he said.
“I am going to try and do things in a different way.”
Burnham is expected to acknowledge in his inaugural speech that he is “acutely conscious” of the need to restore stability to British politics after a decade that has seen six different prime ministers occupy Downing Street.
According to his team, he will outline priorities focused on rebuilding confidence in government, easing pressure on households grappling with the cost-of-living crisis, stimulating economic growth and devolving greater powers to regional communities.
Attention will also turn to the composition of his Cabinet, particularly the appointment of a new Chancellor to replace Rachel Reeves.
Nicknamed the “King of the North” during his tenure as Mayor of Greater Manchester, Burnham was drafted back into frontline national politics by Labour MPs, who viewed him as the party’s strongest candidate to counter the growing popularity of Nigel Farage’s anti-immigration Reform UK.
Labour Deputy Leader Lucy Powell said Burnham’s experience outside Westminster had equipped him with a better understanding of the reforms needed to deliver on Labour’s promises.
She said his record in local government positioned him to pursue the “bigger, bolder measures” required to restore public confidence.
Among the immediate challenges confronting the new prime minister are sluggish economic growth, rising government borrowing costs, an expanding welfare bill and continued irregular migration across the English Channel, issues that have fuelled support for Reform UK.
Britain also faces uncertainty arising from volatile global energy markets linked to the US-Iran conflict and the unpredictability of US President Donald Trump’s administration.
Burnham said his government would adopt a different economic strategy centred on early investment and preventative spending rather than reacting to crises after they emerge.
“I will take a different approach to public spending, and to running the economy — more focused on early investment, early intervention, setting people up for success, and much less paying for failure,” he said.
He also promised immediate measures to help families struggling with the rising cost of living, describing financial pressures as one of the dominant concerns raised during his consultations with voters.
The transition will begin with Starmer travelling to Buckingham Palace to formally tender his resignation before delivering a farewell statement outside Downing Street.
Burnham will then meet King Charles III before returning to Downing Street to deliver what his team described as a speech of “reflection and resolution.”
A former Cabinet minister under both Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, Burnham served as a Member of Parliament from 2001 until 2017 before becoming Mayor of Greater Manchester, where he built a reputation for championing regional development and public services.
With the next general election expected in 2029 and Reform UK leading several opinion polls, Burnham has warned Labour that the coming years represent the party’s “last chance” to rebuild public trust and demonstrate it can deliver meaningful change.
His first major policy decision came even before assuming office, when he announced the cancellation of Starmer’s proposed nationwide digital identity scheme, valued at £1.8 billion over three years, saying the funds would instead be redirected towards easing the cost-of-living burden on British households.