Burnham Becomes PM: What Now?

Yesterday, the former mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, succeeded Keir Starmer as Prime Minister of the UK, making Burnham the UK's 7th Prime Minister in only 10 years.Given this rather embarrassing fact, there is a sense among journalists and across the country that Burnham really needs to succeed.We can't continue this trend of switching Prime Ministers in and out and hoping the situation improves.This is something that Burnham appears to understand, with his first speech in front of Number 10 as Prime Minister referencing an upcoming 10 -year plan for the UK.While some will see this as presumptive – only two Prime Ministers since World War II have lasted this long – others will see it as a sign that Burnham is serious about governing.So in this video we're going to go through what happened on Monday, Burnham's first actions as Prime Minister, and a little look at his new cabinet.

Never miss an episode and always feel in the loop by subscribing and ringing the bell.Now, we should start this by outlining very quickly exactly how Burnham became Prime Minister, as it's worth reflecting on just how quickly all this happened.All of this started really at the end of 2024, with Keir Starmer's polling beginning to drop on the back of a number of scandals and U -turns.This really was already the beginning of the end for Starmer.His polling never recovered, and it became clearer and clearer as time went on that he lacked the communication skills to win people back round.By early 2026, it was obvious that something needed to change.

Andy Burnham, the mayor of Greater Manchester, was often mentioned as a suitable replacement for Starmer, although the fact he wasn't an MP precluded him from mounting an official challenge.In February, Burnham announced his intention to stand as the Labour candidate in the Gorton and Denton by -election, although this was blocked by Labour's National Executive Committee, which was generally Starmer.aligned.Later in the year, in May, Burnham ally Josh Simons resigned his makerfield seat.This time around, the NEC didn't block Burnham from standing, and Burnham won the by -election comfortably, coming 20 points aheadReform.

With the writing on the wall, and with it obvious that Starmer would not beat Burnham in a leadership election, Starmer stood down, and Burnham became Labour leader last Friday, with 379 nominations out of 380.Then, on Monday, Starmer officially handed his resignation in to the King, and minutes later, the King invited Burnham to form a government in his name.With the formalities out the way, Prime Minister Andy Burnham headed to Downing Street to speak to the nation.

I have just come from Buckingham Palace, where I have accepted His Majesty the King's invitation to form a government.

So let's spend a bit of time having a look at what it actually shows us about the kind of government he will lead.Burnham started the speech by acknowledging the fact that he's the 7th Prime Minister in 10 years and reassuring the country that his government will be different.

bringing forward the biggest changes in the last 40 years.

Now, essentially, this is Burnham trying to reassure the country that he'll be the Prime Minister to finally break the mould, to get the UK out of this endless cycle of PMs and actually address the underlying problems facing the country.Now, while this might sound good, it's something we've heard from a number of PMs as they've made their speeches in front of Number 10.Burnham needed something of substance to actually back this up, something to prove that he was different.This is where the specific promises he made in the speech come in.First, as we mentioned in the intro, was his promise of a 10 -year plan.Now, the big criticism here is that Burnham just doesn't give any details on what this could be.

It's been clear for weeks that Burnham wanted more time to organise himself, and would have likely preferred more time to develop this plan.The fact that there's no real indication at all of what could be in it shows just how little time Burnham has had to prepare.Nonetheless, the second thing that Burnham announced was his plan to introduce measures to ease the cost of living.

some breathing space now, some help with the cost of living.And I will set out some of those measures starting tomorrow, including how we pay for them.

Now, unfortunately, due to the time of recording, we don't know exactly what this is.However, the fact that these measures will be costed does imply, perhaps, an increase in taxation.Depending on how big these measures are, this could be a real statement of intent from Burnham, a real demonstration that he's going to act and that he's going to make big changes, and that he's not afraid to ask certain people in society to pay more in order to afford them.This links to the third and final promise he made in the speech.to end homelessness.Now, if Burnham is to achieve this, it would again be a demonstration that Burnham is someone who can fix problems, as a Prime Minister willing and able to act.

But it does come with risks.While Burnham is sometimes praised for his work in reducing homelessness in Manchester, and while he did reduce the number of rough sleepers from 268 when he became mayor to 89 in 2021, it's since risen to 197 in 2025.It's worth saying too that this is just Manchester.Ending homelessness across the UK is going to be a different task entirely.But how has this all been received, and what kind of government is he expected to lead?Well, Nigel Farage has already been quick to point out that Burnham doesn't have the mandate to oversaw the sort of radical change that he alluded to in his Downing Street speech, and has, therefore, called on Burnham to call a general election.

Other party leaders, however, haven't made the same pitch, presumably as they're worried about their own national polling.So, with an immediate general election unlikely, Burnham is probably just going to get on with governing.Already he's announced the big positions in his cabinet, like John Healey as Chancellor.It looks like his government is going to be something of a mixture of Labour factions then.While senior figures of the Labour left have gotten senior positions, such as Ed Miliband, so too have more moderate figures, such as Surbana Mahmood.Perhaps then this shows that Burnham is going to try and appeal to the whole party, and really is going to govern in a more consensual style.

But we'll just have to see what the coming days and months bring.If you want to hear us discussing Burnham and our thoughts on the state of UK politics, we're bringing back our UK Politics podcast, formerly known as Starmageddon.Given the change of leadership, we're obviously in need of a fresh name too, so we'll be renaming it Andemonium.The show will see me, Ben and Georgina discussing the latest in UK politics every fortnight, with us getting the opportunity to not only talk about the stories we don't have time for in regular videos, but also some of our own thoughts and perspectives.The first episode is out right now over on the TLDR Podcast YouTube channel and linked in the description.So please go over and check it out.