Andy Burnham was formally installed as Labour leader today — and used his first moments in the role to point to Margaret Thatcher’s political legacy as a root cause of Britain’s current difficulties.
The Makerfield MP was confirmed as the winner of an unusual leadership race in which he faced no rival, with the announcement made at the TUC headquarters in London before an audience of admiring Labour figures hoping for senior roles.
Taking to the stage in a suit and tie rather than his familiar black T-shirt, Mr Burnham used his address to look back to the era before what he described as the “wrong turns” of the 1980s, as his ascent to the top of the party was completed.
His remarks suggested a shift toward greater state involvement in key industries, as he promised supporters he would bring back “a Labour they once knew” and vowed to “eradicate” Reform.
Mr Burnham framed the Labour movement as one born in “the steelworks” and the dockyards, while pledging to bring an end to “neoliberalism” — a term frequently used on the Left to criticise free-market capitalism.
Although his rise followed a sustained push to remove Keir Starmer from the leadership, Mr Burnham offered warm public praise for his absent predecessor, thanking him for his “service to our party and our country”.
Mr Burnham is due to formally succeed Sir Keir as Prime Minister on Monday, though he is still not expected to face questions from journalists in the immediate aftermath of his victory.
Instead, his team has leaned into softer social media content, sharing clips in which he discusses everyday preferences — from how he takes his tea and whether socks belong with sandals to his objection to serving Yorkshire puddings with Christmas dinner.
Teeing up his confirmation earlier, Mr Burnham posted on X that he will ‘put power back where it belongs’.
‘The next few days are about more than changing who governs Britain. They’re about changing how Britain is governed,’ he wrote.
Mr Burnham has become Labour leader after a token process that saw him nominated by nearly 95 per cent of MPs, weeks after he returned to the Commons in a by-election.
He did not stand on Labour’s manifesto in 2024 and the 25,000 voters who backed him in Makerfield represent just 0.05 per cent of the British electorate.
One of the few backbenchers who did not endorse him, Graham Stringer, said he did not want to sign a ‘blank cheque’ – warning the former Greater Manchester Mayor needs to be more up front about his intentions.
On another dramatic day in UK politics:
- Mr Burnham hinted he will expend ‘quite a lot of political capital’ on social care reforms – after previously backing a ‘death tax’ charge on inheritance;
- Close ally Steve Rotheram, the Liverpool Metro Mayor, has given another strong hint at a ‘wealth tax’, arguing that it should be targeted at raising spending for a ‘sector or area’;
- Sir Keir will not attend his successor’s official confirmation, after spending yesterday on a farewell visit to Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv;
- Removal vans have been seen outside Downing Street as preparations for the handover continue;
- Wes Streeting has denied a bizarre claim that he was spotted in tears near Mr Burnham’s Parliamentary office.
Andy Burnham ditched his trademark black t-shirt for a suit and tie at the Labour leader event today
Mr Burnham entered accompanied by Shabana Mahmood in her capacity as chair of Labour’s ruling NEC, and deputy leader Lucy Powell
The Makerfield MP was unveiled as the winner of the bizarre one-candidate contest at an event in London, watched by fawning would-be Cabinet ministers
Ms Powell introduced Mr Burnham, admitting the contest was not a ‘nailbiter’
Mr Burnham will say ‘political power was centralised and economic power privatised’ during Thatcher’s time as premier
Removal vans have been seen outside Downing Street as preparations for the handover continue
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Staff were packing away boxes with Sir Keir and his family set to move out shortly
In his address this lunchtime he promised to be ‘unashamedly Labour in our priorities and in the decisions we take’.
He said his government will have the ‘courage to fix the big things that politics has neglected’ and the ‘conviction to argue for our plans’.
Mr Burnham insisted Britain took ‘a series of wrong turns in the 1980s’ when ‘political power was centralised and economic power privatised’.
Making the economy work for people across the UK will require ‘a new path to the one we’ve been on for the last 40 years’, he said.
‘This country does not work for working class communities like the city of my birth,’ he said.
‘In fact, it turned its back on them. Political power was used viciously against them to protect vested interests.
‘Economic power cruelly stripped with the deindustrialisation of the 1980s, as it was against so many places up and down the land.’
He added: ‘Change starts with honesty. We must recognise that this generation of politicians, myself included, have failed to challenge a political culture and an economic model that simply doesn’t work well enough for ordinary people.’
Mr Burnham said he would not try to ‘out-Green the Greens’ or shift Right to head off the threat from Reform, but instead insisted the party could be ‘authentically Labour’.
Despite returning at the by-election expressly to oust Sir Keir, Mr Burnham insisted ‘factionalism has bedevilled us’ and ‘today we move beyond it’.
He said: ‘I have supported all our Labour leaders in my lifetime because I believe a united Labour Party and Labour movement is the best hope for our country.’
Mr Burnham was backed by 369 of the party’s 403 MPs, far surpassing the 81 needed, and secured the support of eight of the 11 unions affiliated with the party.
He steps into the job at a time when his party has trailed Reform UK in opinion polls for nearly 18 months and Labour will be hoping his presence will spark a bounce and turn around its fortunes.
Sir Keir has said he would have won the next general election if he had not been ousted, but is ‘proud to hand over the party in good shape’ to his successor.
But there is no clarity about Mr Burnham’s policies, or how they might differ from Sir Keir’s agenda.
Business and unions have been alarmed at the idea of ‘Red’ Ed Miliband being made Chancellor – a prospect that seems to have receded.
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood is now being tipped for the crucial job.
Business and unions have been alarmed at the idea of ‘Red’ Ed Miliband being made Chancellor – a prospect that seems to have receded
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood is now being tipped for the crucial No11 job
Mr Burnham has spoken about how he wants to push powers to local leaders outside Westminster as part of his devolution agenda and to create a ‘No 10 North’ outpost of Downing Street based in Manchester.
He has said he will stick to Rachel Reeves’ fiscal rules as well as manifesto pledges not to raise income tax, VAT or national insurance, but declined to rule out a wealth tax in an interview this week.
The Liberal Democrats have urged him to overhaul the water industry in his first weeks as prime minister and immediately place Thames Water into a special administration regime.
Mr Burnham has drafted in Matthew McGregor, who has worked on elections in the UK and abroad and is currently chief executive of campaign group 38 Degrees, as his No 10 director of political strategy.
