Andy Burnham will use his first speech as prime minister to promise more breathing room on living costs and a steadier government.
Andy Burnham is set to promise “more breathing room” in his first speech as prime minister, with the phrase expected to feature in remarks outside No 10 on Monday. The Burnham speech will come after he meets King Charles III and formally replaces Sir Keir Starmer as the UK’s 59th prime minister.
He is expected to say he is deeply aware of Britain’s rapid turnover of prime ministers, with the country about to get its seventh leader in 10 years. Burnham is also expected to frame the moment as one of reflection and resolution, arguing that politics now needs to be steadier and more responsible. He is likely to say the country must be honest about the scale of the problems it faces.
Before the handover, Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch attacked the incoming prime minister as a “people pleaser” and said the country needed a leader willing to make hard choices. She said the job was not about popularity and complained that Burnham had not yet laid out a clear plan, dismissing his pitch as vague. On the Labour side, deputy leader Lucy Powell said Burnham would stick to the party’s 2024 election manifesto while also aiming for a bolder programme.
Burnham was declared Labour leader on Friday after a short contest in which he was the only candidate, backed by 379 MPs. Some opposition parties have called for a general election so he can secure a fresh mandate, but Powell said he would govern in line with Labour’s manifesto. Burnham has already signaled that his first months in office will focus on domestic priorities, with his team describing the agenda as a reset of priorities.
Among the measures being discussed are scrapping plans for a government-issued digital ID for all British adults, bringing water and energy companies under public control, and starting a new council house-building programme. Plans around North Sea oil and gas drilling are also expected to feature, though the details remain unclear. Environmental campaigners have urged him to stick to Labour’s pledge not to issue new drilling licences, while Burnham is expected to allow production only at sites that already have licences. Donald Trump welcomed the prospect of more drilling in a social media post on Sunday. The Burnham speech will be the first signal of how he intends to use his new power, and that matters because it will shape whether Britain gets the stability and cost-of-living relief many voters have been waiting for.
