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UK’s new PM Andy Burnham vows to end years of instability

Andy Burnham became Britain’s seventh prime minister in a decade on Monday, pledging to break with the politics of the past to deliver a new…

By Samantha Johnson / July 20, 2026

Andy Burnham became Britain’s seventh prime minister in a decade on Monday, pledging to break with the politics of the past to deliver a new economic model to benefit a nation “fed up” with a revolving door of leaders.

In front of dozens of supporters outside his new office and residence at 10 Downing Street, Burnham said politicians had failed to bring the stability needed to raise living standards, something ‌he said he would change with immediate policies and a longer-term plan to be drawn up later this year.

“I know people at home are fed up with politics. I hear you, and I want to be honest with you, we have not been good enough and we need to be better,” he said, speaking without notes and dispensing with the lectern that prime ministers generally use.

“We will make this moment a circuit-breaker for Britain, bringing forward the biggest changes in the last 40 years. A new political model and a new economic model.”

New British Prime Minister Andy Burnham delivers a speech outside 10 Downing Street in London on Monday. Photo: EPA
New British Prime Minister Andy Burnham delivers a speech outside 10 Downing Street in London on Monday. Photo: EPA

Just over an hour after his predecessor and Labour colleague Keir Starmer made his ⁠farewell speech to say “My work is done”, the 56-year-old former Greater Manchester mayor entered Downing Street, where he said his team would tackle his first priority: to end rough sleeping.

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