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Andy Burnham Becomes Labour Leader and Is Set to Be Britain’s Prime Minister
Mr. Burnham promised more public control of essential services, a shift of power toward local governments and a push for economic growth.
Published July 17, 2026Updated July 20, 2026Here’s the latest.
Andy Burnham was installed on Friday as the leader of Britain’s Labour Party, the final step before King Charles III asks him on Monday to form a government and become the country’s 59th prime minister.
In remarks to a special Labour Party conference in London, Mr. Burnham called for having “the courage to fix the big things that politics has neglected” and pledged to fix “an economic model that simply doesn’t work well enough for ordinary people.”
The former mayor of Greater Manchester faces many of the same structural problems that have caused the country to churn through prime ministers every few years since 2016: slow economic growth, high government debt, a struggling national health service and deep political divisions.
Mr. Burnham, who replaces outgoing Prime Minister Keir Starmer, spoke only vaguely in his speech about how he would confront those challenges. He talked about providing hope to people and said he would be a pro-business prime minister. At the same time, he said his government would be a “distinctively Labour” one and would seek to avoid the infighting that has often plagued the party.
As mayor of Greater Manchester, Mr. Burnham repeatedly argued that the national government was ignoring the needs of local communities outside London.
“Britain took a series of wrong turns in the 1980s,” he said Friday, referring to the transformative but contentious government of Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, which oversaw extensive privatization and deregulation.
“The country surrendered control of the essentials — housing, water, energy, transport — and left people exposed to higher costs,” he said. “That, in turn, led to the concentration of more wealth and power in the hands of fewer people and fewer places.”
His criticism of past governments implicitly included his own Labour Party, as he said that “this generation of politicians, myself included, have failed” the people of Britain.
Here’s what else to know:
Road to No. 10: Mr. Burnham had ambitions of becoming a member of Parliament in his early 20s but grew disillusioned with politics in London. In nearly a decade as mayor of one of the biggest cities in England, he cultivated a plain-spoken, stand-up-for-the-little-guy brand. Read more ›
Search for growth: One of the earliest tests for Mr. Burnham as prime minister will be how to spark growth and revive the sluggish parts of the British economy. His stated plan — “Good growth in every British postcode” — is likely to be harder to achieve than it sounds. Read more ›
Next steps: Mr. Burnham is now officially the leader of the Labour Party. But he won’t actually be prime minister for another few days. First Keir Starmer, the outgoing prime minister, has to go see King Charles III on Monday to officially resign. Then Mr. Burnham goes to see the king, who will request that he form a government. And then the work begins. Read more ›
Burnham now has the weekend before things get real on Monday when he replaces Starmer in Downing Street as prime minister. Today’s speech gave us an idea of the scale of his ambitions and illustrated his skills as a communicator, but offered little detail on policy. Over the weekend he will take a final decision on who he favors for the top jobs in his cabinet, particularly the role of chancellor of the Exchequer, directing economic policy, and foreign secretary. We’ll be back on Monday to watch how it goes.
July 17, 2026, 9:12 a.m. ETScotland’s first minister John Swinney has congratulated Burnham and promised to “work constructively with the next Prime Minister to improve the lives of people in Scotland.” But there was a sting in the tail of the message which calls for the relationship with London to “respect the simple democratic principle that Scotland has the right to decide our future.” Swinney leads the Scottish National Party which favors Scottish independence; Burnham has ruled out holding a second referendum on the issue, according to British media reports.
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SKIP ADVERTISEMENTJuly 17, 2026, 8:54 a.m. ETThis was third time lucky for Andy Burnham, who failed twice before to become Labour Party leader in 2010 and 2015. Just a few months ago his path to getting the top job looked to be blocked when he was prevented from running for Parliament in a special election. But when he tried again, following Labour’s disastrous local election results in May, he was allowed to stand and won the Makerfield seat decisively. Today he became leader unopposed, illustrating how quickly political fortunes can change in today’s tumultuous climate.
July 17, 2026, 8:43 a.m. ETUnsurprisingly, the populist right-wing Reform U.K. party led by Nigel Farage is unimpressed with Burnham’s speech. Writing on social media, Robert Jenrick, a senior Reform lawmaker and a former Conservative Party minister, gave his verdict: “20 minutes of vacuous twaddle. No change. No specifics. No plan whatsoever. Is this what we’ve all been waiting for?”
July 17, 2026, 8:31 a.m. ETBurnham described this as “the most significant change moment in our politics for 40 years” — which is quite a claim. Burnham seems to want to push back against some of the big market-led changes introduced by Margaret Thatcher in the 1980s, a decade in which he believes the nation took a wrong turn. “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,” he said today. In Greater Manchester, where he was mayor, Burnham changed things by bringing the privately owned bus network under tight public regulation. But the detail of how he plans to extend that principle nationwide remains unclear.
July 17, 2026, 8:15 a.m. ETEnding factionalism in the Labour Party is something several leaders have promised without much success. Will Burnham be any different? In his speech he said, “We won’t beat Britain’s new right if we are consumed by infighting and pulling in different directions. That is and always has been, an indulgence, that falls heaviest on the people who need Labour most. Fighting to eradicate it and the insidious briefing culture that goes along with it, will characterise my leadership in future.” Seen by many as a little to the left of Starmer, Burnham has served under leaders with very different political leanings — from Tony Blair to Jeremy Corbyn — so perhaps he has a chance. The first test will come on Monday when Burnham chooses his cabinet.
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SKIP ADVERTISEMENTJuly 17, 2026, 8:11 a.m. ETOne of the risks for Burnham is that his focus on the north of England, where he grew up, and “Manchesterism” -- the politics he championed while mayor of Greater Manchester -- might alienate voters elsewhere in the country. So it was interesting that he promised to be a “a leader for the north, the south, the east, the west, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.”
July 17, 2026, 7:45 a.m. ETBurnham is partly in this position because of the perception that Labour had lost touch with many ordinary voters and, in an era of populist politics, the party needed someone who understands them better. “I will always stay close to the ground, close to the people,” Burnham promised.
Burnham just said that “I have a style” and that he won’t change. That said, he delivered his speech in a coat and tie, rather than the navy or black t-shirts that he so often favored as mayor.
July 17, 2026, 7:40 a.m. ETBurnham said that he was still deciding on his top cabinet positions which means the speculation over who will be the next chancellor of the Exchequer will go on for a little longer. The chancellor role is a hugely consequential job with control over Britain’s public finances and how much money other government departments have to spend. It’s the decision that financial markets and investors have been watching closely for, seeking hints on whether Britain will borrow more or aggressively try to drive down its public debt. That ultimately influences interest rates, which affects household mortgage costs and how easy it is for businesses to get loans.
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SKIP ADVERTISEMENTJuly 17, 2026, 7:37 a.m. ETBurnham promises to be a “pro-business leader of the Labour Party,” invoking his record as mayor of Greater Manchester where he presided over economic growth and foreign investment. That may reassure some in the financial markets who had worried that his government could tilt more to the left than that of Starmer.
July 17, 2026, 7:35 a.m. ETSo far, there’s more rhetoric than detail in Burnham’s speech which underscores the contrast between Burnham’s impressive communication skills and those of his predecessor, Keir Starmer.
July 17, 2026, 7:33 a.m. ETBurnham is promising to end factionalism in the Labour Party using a joke that his critics have frequently used against him. The well-worn jibe refers to the fact that Burnham worked for three very different Labour leaders -- Tony Blair, Gordon Brown and Jeremy Corbyn. It goes: “A Blairite, a Brownite and a Corbynite walk into a bar. The bartender looks up, sighs and asks: “What’ll it be, Andy?” In his speech Burnham says that when a Burnhamite walks into a bar, (“as many Burnhamites are known to do,” he jokes,) he wants the bartender to greet them and say “Great to see you, we don’t like factional politics in here.”
July 17, 2026, 7:22 a.m. ETBurnham’s normal smart casual look has been abandoned today in favor of a dark suit, white shirt and red tie — the more traditional outfit of British political leaders.
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SKIP ADVERTISEMENTJuly 17, 2026, 7:18 a.m. ETBurnham has opened his speech with one of his frequent themes: to focus on forgotten places, promising to “put the power that comes from that unity at the service of people and places who have been waiting too long for politics to let them hope again. That’s what we’re going to do, everybody. We’re going to give them hope back.”
July 17, 2026, 7:14 a.m. ETShabana Mahmood, chair of Labour’s governing National Executive Committee and the home secretary, announces Andy Burnham has been elected leader of the Labour Party. It’s “hardly a nail biter folks,” she says, announcing he won 379 nominations. (Labour has 403 lawmakers.)
July 17, 2026, 7:08 a.m. ETLucy Powell, deputy leader of the Labour Party, the first speaker, jokes about the lack of tension over the coming result, and then promises “a new chapter, a new era of the Labour Party.” She also praises Keir Starmer for taking Labour to victory in the 2024 general election after a crushing defeat under Jeremy Corbyn in 2019, saying Starmer “helped save the Labour Party.”
July 17, 2026, 7:04 a.m. ETBurnham has now arrived in the conference hall to applause from jubilant supporters.
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SKIP ADVERTISEMENTJuly 17, 2026, 7:00 a.m. ETIn the room in central London where Burnham’s position as the new Labour leader is about to be confirmed, the atmosphere is not exactly suspenseful. “It’s like a World Cup final. Can Burnham really win the Labour leadership? No one can possibly know. What a tense contest,” wrote Robert Peston, political editor of ITV, on social media with more than a little irony.
July 17, 2026, 6:57 a.m. ETEven before his speech begins, Burnham is making his pitch to the country, and he’s not exactly moderating expectations. “The next few days are about more than changing who governs Britain. They’re about changing how Britain is governed,” he wrote in a post this morning on social media.
July 17, 2026, 6:46 a.m. ETThere are a few procedural bits to take care of before Burnham speaks today. Lucy Powell, the deputy leader of the Labour Party, and Hollie Ridley, the general secretary, will deliver some remarks before Shabana Mahmood, the current home secretary and the head of the party’s National Executive Committee, will announce the results of the non-contested race for party leader. The winner, of course, will be Burnham, who will speak after that.
July 17, 2026, 6:45 a.m. ETAfter today there will be a brief hiatus before Keir Starmer moves out of 10 Downing Street and Andy Burnham moves in on Monday. Something similar happened in 2007, the last time Labour changed leader while it was in government. Gordon Brown was declared the new party leader on June 24, 2007 at a special Labour conference in Manchester. It was three days later that he formally succeeded Tony Blair as prime minister, on June 27.
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