New UK PM Andy Burnham sweeps into office with surprise Cabinet appointments

LONDON - New UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham took power on July 20, purging the Cabinet of his predecessor’s loyalists as he promised a 10-year plan to ease cost-of-living pressures and signalled a tilt to the left.

He immediately got to work after replacing Keir Starmer in Downing Street, holding calls with US President Donald Trump and Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky before appointing his ministerial team.

Burnham, 56, pledged to re-industrialise Britain and end sleeping rough on the streets after he met King Charles III at Buckingham Palace to become the head of government following Starmer’s departure.

Britain needed to show the world it could “regain stability”, he said outside his new official residence at 10 Downing Street, vowing to create “a new political model” and “build a new economy”.

Burnham underlined his “commitment to defence and security” in his first call with Trump, a UK government spokesperson said.

To Zelensky, Burnham reaffirmed “his and the UK’s resolute commitment” to Ukraine in its defence of Russia’s invasion, Downing Street said.

Accompanied by his wife Marie-France van Heel, Burnham was met at Downing Street by resounding applause from supporters and acknowledged he was the country’s seventh prime minister since the start of 2016.

He worked swiftly to stamp his authority on the new government by sacking several Starmer loyalists from his cabinet and reshuffling other ministers who served under the previous regime.

Ex-defence secretary John Healey replaced Rachel Reeves as finance minister while Ed Miliband leaves his energy brief to become foreign minister.

New British Chancellor John Healey departs after talks with new British Prime Minister Andy Burnham at 10 Downing Street in London. PHOTO: EPA

Shabana Mahmood was reappointed interior minister to see through her hardline reforms of Britain’s asylum system.

And David Lammy left his role as deputy prime minister.

In his brief speech outside Downing Street, Burnham said he would “bring forward a new plan for Britain, a 10-year plan”, without giving specifics.

Britain's newly appointed Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband reacts outside 10 Downing Street in London, after Prime Minister Andy Burnham took office. PHOTO: REUTERS

Starmer had similarly talked of his intention to lead a “decade of national renewal” before Labour MPs ditched him in June in favour of Burnham, who only returned to parliament four weeks ago.

‘Stronger and fairer’

Burnham promised to “give people some breathing space now, some help with the cost of living”, which he said he would start to announce on July 21.

He also said his first instruction would be a pledge to “end rough sleeping”, a measure he attempted to implement as a regional mayor in northern England, although it was not fully successful.

Other announcements included a vague promise to re-industrialise Britain through public procurement and to build more public housing.

He repeated his belief that “in the 1980s Britain took some wrong turns”, as he pledged to decentralise power away from Westminster and “put life’s essentials back under stronger public control to make them affordable”.

Starmer departed Downing Street with his wife earlier, insisting his two years in office had made Britain “stronger and fairer”.

He leaves a host of challenges for Burnham, including a tepid economy, high government borrowing costs, a ballooning welfare bill and irregular migrants arriving in small boats that have fuelled support for the hard-right Reform UK party.

Unpredictable energy prices due to the US-Iran war and volatile relations with the United States under Trump also threaten to buffet his premiership.

Burnham has little room to manoeuvre amid high public debt and strict financial rules requiring him to balance government spending against tax revenue.

Starmer led Labour to a landslide election victory in July 2024 after 14 years of Conservative rule, but his premiership became characterised by a string of scandals, missteps and policy U-turns.

Burnham, the former mayor of Greater Manchester nicknamed the “King of the North”, has been parachuted in by the Labour Party, after Starmer resigned on June 22, with MPs viewing him as the party’s best chance of reining in Reform, led by Nigel Farage.

‘New momentum’

But his swift “coronation” as Labour leader without a contest, and now prime minister by virtue of Labour’s huge parliamentary majority, has raised questions about how he will achieve his aims.

Burnham, an MP between 2001 and 2017, is also facing calls from opposition politicians to call a snap election.

EU chief Ursula von der Leyen said she looked forward to working with Burnham “to strengthen the EU-UK partnership”, and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz invited him to visit Berlin to mark “the deep bond between us”.

French President Emmanuel Macron also sent congratulations, and urged him to “give new momentum to the partnership between the United Kingdom and the European Union”. AFP