Andy Burnham elected new Labour leader, set to be UK PM

Andy Burnham has been confirmed as the new leader of the UK's Labour Party, positioning him to become the nation's next prime minister. The interior minister, Shabana Mahmood, announced Burnham's election at a special party conference, noting he was the only eligible candidate.

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There being no other eligibly nominated candidate, it is therefore my honour to declare that the duly elected leader of the Labour Party is Andy Burnham.

Burnham succeeds Keir Starmer, who resigned amid political instability, scandals, and missteps. This marks a swift return for Burnham, who only recently rejoined parliament after a nine-year absence. He is scheduled to become the UK's seventh prime minister in a decade on Monday. Labour holds a significant parliamentary majority, meaning its leader automatically assumes the premiership without a new election.

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I haven’t made any decisions yet about who will be in that top team. But I will soon, and when I have, you will see it reflects all parts of our party, all communities.

Nicknamed "King of the North" for his electoral success as mayor of Greater Manchester, Burnham's key policy proposal is decentralizing power to other cities to stimulate the economy. He plans to establish a "Number 10 North" office. Burnham stated that the past four decades have been difficult for the party's traditional heartlands and neglected rural and coastal areas, pledging to do better for these communities. "If we want an economy and a country that works for all people and places… then it requires a new path to the one we’ve been on for the last 40 years," he said.

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The past four decades have not been kind to the places that built our party, nor to the communities across the UK in rural and coastal areas. So we pledge today, to them, to be better.

Burnham also emphasized his commitment to being a pro-business leader, drawing on his experience as mayor. "I will be a pro-business leader of the Labour Party, as I was a pro-business mayor of Greater Manchester," he stated. He believes his approach in Manchester, where he worked with businesses to drive economic growth, can be replicated nationwide. He further argued that effective inflation control requires greater public oversight of essential costs, signaling a need for a new economic direction for Britain.

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If we want an economy and a country that works for all people and places… then it requires a new path to the one we’ve been on for the last 40 years.