Andy Burnham has launched a sweeping overhaul of the UK government within hours of becoming prime minister, sacking key allies of predecessor Sir Keir Starmer and promising a 10-year programme to tackle the cost of living, re-industrialise Britain and shift power away from Westminster.
The 56-year-old Labour leader, installed in Downing Street after Starmer’s abrupt resignation last month, used his first day in office to signal a decisive move to the left and to consolidate his authority over a party that only recently brought him back to Parliament.
Burnham, accompanied by his wife Marie-France van Heel and greeted by loud applause from supporters and his mother outside No 10, pledged to build “a new political model” and “a new economy” after being formally asked by King Charles III to form a government.
He becomes the fourth prime minister of the King’s reign since 2022, and the UK’s seventh leader in just over 10 years – a churn Burnham said must end if Britain is to “regain stability” and restore its international standing.
Cabinet clear-out as Starmer loyalists removed
In an assertive first act, Burnham dismissed several prominent Starmer-era cabinet ministers, including former chancellor Rachel Reeves and ex-foreign secretary David Lammy, in what amounts to a purge of his predecessor’s inner circle.
Former defence secretary John Healey has been appointed chancellor, while Ed Miliband, the former Labour leader and a key figure on the party’s left, takes over as foreign secretary. Angela Rayner, a standard-bearer for Labour’s left wing, returns to government in a senior role.
Wes Streeting, who had previously abandoned plans to challenge Burnham for the Labour leadership, is the new defence secretary. Shabana Mahmood has been reappointed home secretary, with a brief to drive through her tough reforms of the asylum system.
Downing Street insiders say the reshuffle is designed to install loyalists committed to Burnham’s long-term agenda and to draw a sharp contrast with Starmer’s scandal-hit administration.
Pledge to end rough sleeping and ease cost-of-living crisis
In a short but pointed speech outside No 10, Burnham promised to “bring forward a new plan for Britain, a 10-year plan”, though he stopped short of setting out detailed policies.
He said his first priority was to “give people some breathing space now, some help with the cost of living”, adding that initial measures would be announced on Tuesday.
Burnham also said his first formal instruction to ministers would be a pledge to end rough sleeping – an ambition he tried to pursue as mayor of Greater Manchester, though he previously admitted the initiative was only partially successful.
Other early commitments include a drive to re-industrialise the UK using public procurement and a programme to build more public housing. He repeated his view that “in the 1980s Britain took some wrong turns”, promising to decentralise power away from London and “put life’s essentials back under stronger public control to make them affordable”.
Swift calls to Trump and Zelensky amid global tensions
Burnham moved quickly to engage with international partners, holding separate phone calls with US President Donald Trump and Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky on his first day in office.
A UK government spokesperson said Burnham emphasised his “commitment to defence and security” in the call with Mr Trump. The US president later wrote on Truth Social that he had a “very good conversation” with Burnham, adding that they would meet “in the not too distant future”.
Burnham “has got a big job ahead of him, but he will be able to do it and, of course, the U.S.A. will be there to help!” Mr Trump posted, saying the pair discussed trade, military co-operation and demining in the Strait of Hormuz.
Downing Street said Burnham told Mr Zelensky that the UK’s support for Ukraine in its defence against Russia’s invasion would remain “resolute”.
French President Emmanuel Macron also congratulated Burnham, calling on him to “give new momentum to the partnership” between the UK and the European Union.
Starmer’s troubled legacy and Burnham’s limited room for manoeuvre
Starmer, who left Downing Street earlier with his wife, insisted his two years in office had made Britain “stronger and fairer”. He had led Labour to a landslide election victory in July 2024 after 14 years of Conservative rule, but his premiership was dogged by scandals, policy reversals and internal party unrest.
Burnham – an MP from 2001 to 2017 before serving as mayor of Greater Manchester, where he earned the nickname “King of the North” – was drafted back into Parliament only four weeks ago. Labour MPs then moved swiftly to install him as leader and prime minister, using the party’s large Commons majority to avoid a contest.
That rapid “coronation” has fuelled questions from opposition parties about his mandate, with calls for an immediate general election.
Burnham inherits a difficult economic backdrop: sluggish growth, high government borrowing costs, rising welfare spending and continued arrivals of irregular migrants in small boats – an issue that has boosted support for the hard-right Reform UK party led by Nigel Farage.
He also faces unstable global energy prices driven by the US-Iran war and strained relations with Washington under Mr Trump. With high public debt and strict fiscal rules requiring that spending be balanced against tax revenues, Burnham’s capacity to deliver his ambitious 10-year programme may be severely constrained.
How he navigates those pressures – and whether his left-leaning reset can stabilise both his party and the country – will define a premiership that has begun with speed, symbolism and immediate confrontation with the past.
