Burnham pledges to ‘bring back hope’ as he makes Healey chancellor

Andy Burnham pledged to “bring back hope” to Britain, as he began his tenure as prime minister by appointing Labour stalwart John Healey as chancellor.

In his first speech to the nation in Downing Street, Burnham said he wanted to bring forward the “biggest changes in the last 40 years” to British politics.

He outlined his intention to unveil a 10-year “new plan for Britain” later this year, explaining this would lay out a path to where he believes “we all want Britain to be”.

Burnham promised to make announcements this week to “give people some breathing space now, some help with the cost of living” and explain how he would pay for them.

Burnham also started making cabinet appointments after removing loyalists of former PM Sir Keir Starmer. Out went Rachel Reeves as chancellor, David Lammy as deputy prime minister and justice secretary, and Steve Reed as communities secretary.

Healey, who quit Sir Keir’s government due to a row over defence spending, was in as chancellor.

With Burnham saying he wants to honour the UK’s commitments on defence spending, Healey will face the challenge of finding the extra money he believed the last government failed to deliver to keep the UK safe.

Speaking to broadcasters, Healey said the pair will “work in lockstep to meet the fiscal rules with a buffer against uncertainty” and on how they will “make life more affordable for working people right across the UK”.

Ed Miliband moves from energy secretary to foreign secretary, replacing Yvette Cooper who is now the health secretary.

Miliband told the BBC it was the “honour of my lifetime” to become foreign secretary, a role his brother David held between 2007 and 2010.

Shabana Mahmood remains as home secretary and Louise Haigh takes on the role of Burnham’s fixer across government, serving as first secretary of state, chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and minister for the Cabinet Office.

Angela Rayner returned to a cabinet job as housing secretary, a role she previously held in Sir Keir’s government. She stood down in September 2025 after admitting she underpaid stamp duty on her £800,000 flat in Hove.

Wes Streeting, the former health secretary who at one stage was seen as a possible leadership challenger, is the new defence secretary.

Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch welcomed Burnham to his new role but said he has not “set out a clear plan for government”.

She said “Britain needs a leader who can take difficult decisions, not a people pleaser” and criticised him for “promising to undo Margaret Thatcher’s policies”.

Burnham’s first policy pledge as PM was to end rough sleeping in the country, something he promised for Greater Manchester but failed to achieve during his time as mayor for the area.

Burnham also spoke of his ambition to help more young people into work, build more council homes and honour the UK’s commitments on defence spending.

He said: “We will help people to live well, building a more preventative state, investing in people’s success rather than paying for failure.”

Burnham added: “Let’s build a new national sense of unity, of common purpose and positivity. Let us make this the moment when Britain starts to believe again, the moment we bring back hope.”

Burnham later told reporters that he would be “looking at” the tax-free personal allowance ahead of his first budget in the autumn, after the issue was repeatedly raised during his successful by-election campaign in Makerfield.

But he stressed that changing it would be “difficult” in the current economic circumstances.

Asked if he could pay for a change by reintroducing the 50p top rate of tax, he said it was “premature to say that”.

The standard personal allowance is currently £12,570, which is the amount of income someone does not have to pay tax on.

Burnham also said he “does not want to leave office” without reforming the social care system.

He said that Westminster’s record on the issue over the last 30 years was “not defensible”.

Little more than a month after he secured his return to Parliament as MP for Makerfield, Burnham found himself having an audience with King Charles III in Buckingham Palace for almost 35 minutes on Monday.

He was asked to form a new administration, accepted and made the short journey to Downing Street to announce the news, to cheers and applause from a large crowd of his supporters.

Unlike his predecessors, Burnham opted not to use a lectern and did not have any notes to hand as he stood in front of the famous black No 10 door to address the nation.

Burnham said: “I’m acutely conscious that I am the sixth person in the last 10 years to walk up this street, the seventh prime minister since 2016, making this a moment for reflection and new resolution.

“It requires my generation of politicians to raise our game and rise to the new challenge. Britain needs to show the world that we can regain our stability once again, and that is our challenge – to make politics work, to make it work better.”

Burnham described the moment as a “circuit breaker for Britain, bringing forward the biggest changes in the last 40 years – a new political model and a new economic model”.

After his speech had finished, the new PM kissed his wife, Marie-France van Heel. He also shook hands with supporters before entering No 10.

Liberal Democrat leader Sir Edward Davey said it was “disappointing not to hear anything from the new PM on social care, on Europe, or on protecting our precious natural environment”.

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage called for a general election, saying Burnham “cannot be allowed to make the ‘biggest changes in politics for 40 years’ without a mandate”.

Green Party leader Zack Polanski said now is the time for “bold politics”.

He said: “The prime minister’s speech today will leave many sceptical that Andy Burnham really plans to challenge the wealth and power of the establishment and it all starts to look and sound like more of the same.”

Burnham spoke to US President Donald Trump shortly after taking office.

A Downing Street spokesperson said the PM told Trump about his “vision” for the UK and that ensuring the security of the UK and its allies “was at the top of his agenda”.

The pair also spoke about the Middle East and the World Cup, while Burnham also told Trump he hopes to be able to show him “what Manchester had to offer during a visit in the future”.

Burnham also spoke to Volodymyr Zelensky, with the Ukrainian president writing on X: “I truly appreciate that the support for Ukraine and our people will remain steadfast.”

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said she had a “very good” first discussion with Burnham”, adding: “We are both committed to bringing the EU and the UK closer and closer.”

A day of change at the top began with Sir Keir completing his departure from Downing Street, two years after he led Labour to a landslide general election victory in July 2024.

Sir Keir, flanked by his staff and supporters, said Burnham has his “full support”.

He added: “I go with good grace. I go with a smile, and I go proud of everything that we have achieved.”

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