Closing summary
That’s all from me, Tom Ambrose, and the UK politics live blog for today. Thanks for following along.
Here is a summary of the day’s headlines:
-
Andy Burnham has declared himself ready to “beat Britain’s new right” with a fresh, united approach as he becomes the leader of the Labour party before taking over as British prime minister on Monday. The former mayor of Greater Manchester won the overwhelming support of MPs, trade unions and party branches, making him the only choice to take over from Keir Starmer.
-
At a special party conference at TUC headquarters in London on Friday, Burnham was declared leader by Shabana Mahmood, the frontrunner to be his chancellor, who is also chair of the party’s ruling executive. Addressing a room of senior Labour politicians and supporters, Burnham said the country was “crying out for a new politics”. But he also warned that it was Labour’s “last chance to change” and the party must do so together, as a united movement.
-
Although he has not yet set out detailed policies, Burnham said the broad areas where he wanted to focus were handing power to communities, being a pro-business leader, and building more social and council housing. Burnham is expected to take over as prime minister on Monday after Starmer goes to Buckingham Palace to start the handover process.
-
Burnham won his party’s leadership with the support of 379 Labour MPs and 23 affiliate organisations, Labour confirmed. He was elected and confirmed as leader at a special conference at the Trades Union Congress in London.
-
Burnham will give a speech outside Downing Street and appoint his cabinet on Monday, although he claimed not to have decided who will be in his top team yet.
-
Jonathan Reynolds is set to be reinstated to his previous role as business secretary when Andy Burnham becomes prime minister next week, it has been reported. According to the Financial Times, sources close to the situation have said the chief whip is likely to return to his former brief on Monday.
-
Addressing criticism that he has been too focused on the north, given his mayoral role, Burnham said he would be a leader for the north, south, east, west, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. “This is a moment to speak for all parts of the country and unite people in a common cause,” he said.
-
The Conservatives have argued new Labour leader and incoming prime minister Burnham should set out his plan in the Commons. Tory chairman Kevin Hollinrake said: “Andy Burnham says he has a plan, so what is it? The leader of the Labour party, and soon-to-be prime minister, should come to parliament and explain it.”
-
Northern Ireland’s first minister Michelle O’Neill has called for a “different approach” from Burnham. DUP leader Gavin Robinson agreed that Burnham needs to “deliver a change of direction”, urging him to show “an unambiguous commitment” to Northern Ireland’s position in the UK.
-
Linda Hobson, who chairs Unison’s Labour Link committee said: “Andy Burnham has earned respect across the Labour movement, and often the political divide, for his achievements. Now it’s over to him to show he’s the right person to deliver the party’s promise of change when Labour won its landslide in 2024.”
Nearing the end of his speech accepting the Labour leadership, Andy Burnham paused. “I know what to do,” he said. “I have a plan.” Perhaps he does. But even after half an hour of dense rhetoric, it is still not especially clear what this is.
Burnham, who will become prime minister on Monday after this formal party coronation, is a politician who runs largely on vibes, and that was the driving force of his address to the Labour faithful in central London.
It was a necessarily artificial occasion. Shabana Mahmood, who as national executive chair announced the result, barely contained her laughter as she set out how Burnham had taken 379 nominations from Labour MPs against one for Catherine West, and cast that as essentially a party in-joke.
As soon as a suit-clad Burnham began his victory address, two things were immediately reinforced. The first – and this is in no short measure the reason he was standing there – is that the new prime minister is a much, much better orator than the man he replaces.
A speech rich in resonant language was delivered confidently and with both sincerity and humour, at times self-deprecating, showing an almost Johnsonian sense of mischief that Keir Starmer appears to lack entirely.
When Louise Haigh – then a lowly backbencher – wrote a policy prospectus for the leftwing Renewal journal back in May, it contained a little-noticed nugget: a rethink of the Bank of England’s mandate.
Haigh, who quit as transport secretary in 2024 after it emerged she had been convicted of fraud over a missing work phone, is back in frontline politics as a lynchpin of Andy Burnham’s operation. Economists are now asking whether the Bank, and the mandate it gets from the chancellor to solely target stable prices, will be in the new administration’s sights.
Haigh wrote at the time: “As we approach the 30th anniversary of Gordon Brown giving the Bank operational independence to set interest rates, the time is right to re-examine the mandate and see whether better coordination and a greater focus on economic growth should also be included.”
Brown’s surprise decision to make the Bank independent – announced in the early days of Tony Blair’s first term in 1997 – formed part of his efforts to bolster Labour’s economic credibility.
The Bank’s monetary policy committee (MPC), made up of five senior Bank figures and four external members, sets interest rates to achieve “price stability” – defined as an inflation target set by the chancellor – these days this is 2%.
This “remit” is reaffirmed each year in a letter from the chancellor to the Bank’s governor, currently Andrew Bailey.
The Conservatives have argued new Labour leader and incoming prime minister Andy Burnham should set out his plan in the Commons.
Tory chairman Kevin Hollinrake said:
Andy Burnham says he has a plan, so what is it? The leader of the Labour party, and soon-to-be prime minister, should come to parliament and explain it.
Instead, the government spared his blushes by cancelling the Conservatives’ vote that would have brought him before parliament on Monday.
It’s not too late for Andy Burnham to do the right thing, make a statement, and answer questions from Members of Parliament on Monday about his ‘plan’.
But the truth is that, whether it is Keir Starmer or Andy Burnham, the real problem is the high-tax, high-spend Labour MPs behind them.
Burnham has said he “wasn’t in the position to be involved” in the Parliamentary Labour Party’s decision to oust Keir Starmer from Downing Street.
Asked whether it was right for him to be talking about ending Labour infighting after just toppling the outgoing prime minister, he told reporters:
Well, there was obviously a decision taken by the PLP.
It wasn’t by me… I wasn’t in parliament. I wasn’t in the position to be involved in that in terms of the decisions that the PLP came to. But obviously, in politics, you have to respond to the big moments.
The May elections were a big moment, but it was up to our Members of Parliament, and obviously I then responded.
Burnham said he would “grasp the nettle” of reforming England’s social care system.
The prime minister-in-waiting did not set out how he would fund the creation of a universal “national care service” but said the current system was “the worst of all worlds”.
Asked whether he would be able to make changes within the next two years he told broadcasters:
I think it’s about being prepared to grasp the nettle. I’ve got personal experience of the system. My dad has Alzheimer’s, and you see what the staff have to put up with. It’s not their fault. The system’s broken.
You can’t leave social care like this. And this is part of my criticism of Westminster. It has flinched over the years from these big decisions.
He added:
I tried to reform social care in 2010. In the end, it will require something difficult.
But I think the British public would rather kind of face them and said ‘you know what, we can’t leave it like this’ and in fact, the NHS won’t get back to where it needs to be when you have a broken social care system that can’t keep people out of hospital.
Burnham said he would be “leading from the front” to drive devolution from No 10 North.
Asked whether his plan was to spend Fridays working from the new outpost based in Manchester, the new Labour leader told reporters in Gravesend: “No, it’s more than that.”
He continued:
I’ll drive this change. I will drive the devolution of power from No 10 North right across this country.
I want all places to have more power, to do more for themselves, to reindustrialise, to build the council homes that places like this need.
So you will see a significant shift of gear when it comes to the devolution of power.
We know in Greater Manchester that it’s the key to getting more growth. We’ve made Greater Manchester the fastest-growing city region in the country.
I want everywhere to have that same opportunity and No 10 North will drive it, and I will be there leading from the front.
No 10 North will be “as much for Gravesend as it will be for Makerfield”, Burnham said, as he sought to allay concerns that the planned outpost in Manchester will not benefit other regions.
Speaking to local Labour activists at Gravesend Town Pier in Kent, the new Labour leader said No 10 North will be about making all parts of the UK “feel that they’ve got the power that they need to get on and make changes to the lives of their residents”.
He continued:
I know it’s going to be in the north. That doesn’t mean it’s just for the north.
No 10 North will be as much for Gravesend as it will be for Makerfield and we want to get the power into your hands.
Burnham praised Keir Starmer’s legacy but said he had “much more change to bring”.
The new Labour leader said:
Obviously, we’ve already brought change. We’ve obviously got our MPs here today.
We’ve been working hard with the Labour government, and we’ve changed things already.
We’ve brought NHS waiting lists down, finally getting going in the right direction.
They’ve been going in the wrong direction since I was the health secretary a long time ago, but it’s good to see that change coming through.
He added:
Rights for workers, rights for renters, rail renationalised – that was a really important thing that the government has done – and only this week we passed the Hillsborough law… so no one in this country goes through what they did.”
He said that Starmer “leaves a legacy of a country that will be about justice and fairness going forward, and that is a huge thing, but we’ve got much more change to bring”.
Burnham to announce cabinet picks on Monday
During the speech, Burnham said he will announce his cabinet on Monday and defended waiting until he enters Downing Street to announce his choices, saying doing so earlier would cause “chaos”.
Asked why he had not yet decided who to appoint to his top team, he said:
Because you do that when you do take over. You make those decisions, and it would be somewhat premature and would I think cause complete chaos if you start half a reshuffle before you’re in the position.
Asked if knew in his own mind who his chancellor would be, he said:
I am finalising those decisions, and I will come to conclusions very shortly, and then I will announce those on Monday.
So that’s the normal way. You know, people want everything earlier these days, and there’s lots of speculation, but that’s the orderly way to do it, and I have done it I believe in the right way.
I’m not in the job yet, but when I am, I will do it in the proper way.
Burnham promises to 'listen to people' in Gravesend speech
Labour leader Andy Burnham told supporters he would not let his new role change him and that he would put the party back in touch with ordinary people, ahead of becoming prime minister next week.
The Makerfield MP told Labour activists during his second speech of the day, this time in Gravesend, Kent: “I’m not going to let this job change me. I’ll remain on the ground.
“I will remain close to people. I will listen to what they say. I will put us back in touch with ordinary people.
“I will give it my all. I will give my all to support all of you here in Kent to make sure Labour connects with people here.”
One of the five key promises Burnham made in this speech earlier today was to dial down the tone of public discourse and make politics less toxic.
It comes in the week following the killing of former Conservative MP Ann Widdecombe and a decade on from the murder of Labour’s Jo Cox.
Olivia Field, chief executive of the Jo Cox Foundation, commented:
Burnham commits to improving political discourse, reducing toxicity in politics, and giving more power to people and places.
For that ambition to succeed, he needs to prioritise connection: role-modelling it in politics, creating more opportunities for people to come together across difference, and removing the barriers that prevent strong communities from flourishing – from loneliness and financial hardship to the growing lack of confidence among many young people to build relationships.
Hope is not only the product of economic opportunity or growth. It also comes from a sense of belonging. Ultimately, the strength of a society is measured not only by its GDP, but by the bonds between its people and the connections within its communities.
Updated
Burnham set to reappoint Jonathan Reynolds as business secretary - FT
Jonathan Reynolds is set to be reinstated to his previous role as business secretary when Andy Burnham becomes prime minister next week, it has been reported.
According to the Financial Times, sources close to the situation have said the chief whip is likely to return to his former brief on Monday.
He was moved as part of Keir Starmer’s reshuffle in September 2025 and has reportedly make it clear he was not enthusiastic about the sideways switch.
The FT reports:
One Labour figure said Burnham’s team had discussed giving the Department for Business and Trade control of more business-facing energy policy from the Department of Energy and Net Zero, currently run by Ed Miliband.
That could mean Reynolds becoming responsible for policies including decisions relating to North Sea oil and gas, according to that figure.
It was Tony Blair who wrote that the “leader sets out for the people what they need and not simply what they want. Otherwise, the leader is just a follower”.
The incoming prime minister, Andy Burnham, must have been channelling his predecessor when this week he started to set out his views on the big issues facing the UK: should milk go in the cup before the tea? What items belong in a Christmas dinner?
Burnham has kept his plans for office so tightly under wraps that even loyalists within his party are thought to be totally in the dark.
After weeks in which the Makerfield MP has submitted himself to few questions from the media, he was formally announced as Labour leader on Friday. The public will have to wait until next week to hear more details of his plan for government.
But in the meantime we have a TikTok video, published on Thursday, setting out the new prime minister’s likes and dislikes.
Andy Burnham must prioritise the environment and reject North Sea drilling outright, Friends of the Earth has warned.
Rosie Downes, head of campaigns at the organisation, said:
In the midst of an unprecedented summer of deadly heat, anything short of rejecting disastrous projects like Rosebank, Jackdaw and a third runway at Heathrow, and failing to bring forward an all-encompassing fracking ban, would see the new prime minister turning his back on precisely the communities he has sworn to help.
He must stand firm or risk undermining his credibility straight out of the gate.
She added:
We’ve seen the success he had as Greater Manchester mayor in increasing bus use through affordable fares - this is something he should replicate nationally by introducing a £1 bus fare cap.
Alongside this, lowering energy bills through cheap, homegrown renewable power and a new social tariff to help those on the lowest incomes, bringing water back into public ownership so we’re no longer paying through the nose just for water companies to trash our rivers and seas, and ensuring he follows through with concrete action on Palestine – including a full arms embargo on Israel and a trade ban with illegal settlements – should all be top of his priority list.
Shevaun Haviland, director-general of the British Chambers of Commerce, says growth must be “priority number one” for the new prime minister.
In a statement, Haviland said:
The British Chambers of Commerce would like to congratulate Andy Burnham on his successful election as Leader of the Labour party. We stand ready to work in partnership with his new government to deliver the right changes to create the economic prosperity we all depend upon.
A pro-business stance, a focus on education and giving more power to the regions are all welcome. But there are hard yards ahead and the time available to make a difference is limited.
If Burnham is serious about delivering growth across all parts of our economy, then he must be unequivocal in his backing for business. Firms will want to see swift action that shows the new government understands the cost pressures they face and is willing to work with them to cut that burden.
There can be no room for error. Previous missteps, such as the rise in national insurance contributions, have undermined much of the current government’s good work by severely denting business confidence.
Updated
Northern Ireland first minister Michelle O’Neill has said a “different approach” is needed when Andy Burnham assumes the role of British prime minister.
She said:
I wish Andy Burnham well on becoming leader of the British Labour Party and stand ready to work constructively with him. A different approach is needed from the British Government.
Successive British governments have implemented policies that have been catastrophic for ordinary people.
They have cut vital public services, deepened inequalities, and left families struggling through a cost of living crisis while a small elite continues to accumulate enormous wealth.
O’Neill added:
I look forward to meeting with Andy Burnham when he takes up the role as British prime minister.
I will make the case for fair funding for public services, action on the cost of living crisis, and full respect for our democratic right to determine our own future here on the island of Ireland.
The interests of all the people of Ireland will be best served when we have full control of our own affairs in a new and united Ireland.
Linda Hobson, who chairs Unison’s Labour Link committee said: “Andy Burnham has earned respect across the Labour movement, and often the political divide, for his achievements.
“Now it’s over to him to show he’s the right person to deliver the party’s promise of change when Labour won its landslide in 2024.”
She added:
Everyone knows the path ahead won’t be easy, but he’s shown he has a powerful voice and gets things done.
Andy Burnham knows the importance of public services and he’s made clear his commitment to a national care service, for which Unison has long campaigned.
The union looks forward to working with him to bring about the transformation so desperately needed for the UK and the emphasis on Labour values. He must get this right and bring back the hope he promises.”
Updated
Burnham won his party’s leadership with the support of 379 Labour MPs and 23 affiliate organisations, Labour press has confirmed.
He was elected and confirmed as leader at a special conference at the Trades Union Congress in London.
Updated
Andy Burnham has posted this on social media.
It’s the honour of my life to be Leader of the Labour Party.
I will be a leader for every region and nation in this great country, and this Party will be unashamedly Labour in our priorities and in the decisions we take.
Together, we will set Britain on a new path.
That is all from me for today. Tom Ambrose is taking over now.
Updated
Burnham's speech - snap verdict
It has become fashionable this week to say that all Andy Burnham has been offering recently has been “vibes”. And, if “vibes” means emotional connection, optimism and generalities rather than specifics, then that’s fair. This speech was a vibes masterclass.
But it’s a ghastly term because it’s pejorative and sneery, and it misses what politics is about. When Winston Churchill delivered his brilliant speeches during the second world war, and promised to “fight them on the beaches”, that was just vibes too. You could say the same about Martin Luther King, or Bill Clinton or Barack Obama – or almost anyone else. There was not much policy detail in “I have a dream”.
Burnham is not in that class as an orator, but this speech was in better than anything that Keir Starmer has delivered, and really very, very good indeed. There were two passages that particularly stood out.
The first was the one where he cleverly appropriated and inverted the ‘Andy Burnham walks into a bar” joke. (See 12.31pm.) The self-deprecating joke, “a Burnhamite walks into a bar, as many Burnhamites are known to do”, was particularly nicely phrased, but overall it worked because he was using a joke to shore up a proper argument.
And the second was his line:
The right use the phrase “take back control”, but they are the ones who gave it away in the first place.
This was neat because it linked his argument about Thatcherism and the past 40 years (see 12.40pm) with the need to offer a policy response to the crisis in left-behind areas illustrated by the Brexit vote.
The narrative arc of progressive politics is, almost always, disappointment. Leaders who are best at inspiring hope are also those most likely to hear people saying a few years down the line they have not lived up to expectations.
But hope is always a good starting point; vibes on their own won’t deliver change, but it easier to get things done with them than without them. Burnham’s leadership has got off to a good start.
Updated
Burnham claims he has not yet made any decisions about who will be in his 'top team'
Earlier in the speech Burnham claimed he had not yet decided on key cabinet appointments. He said:
Contrary to what you may keep on reading, I haven’t made any decisions yet about who will be in that top team, but I will soon. And when I have, you will see it reflects all parts of our party, all communities.
Burnham says his style is about listening to people, and that won't change
Burnham said as PM he wanted to continue going to football, and being close to people.
Also want you to know is that I won’t change.
I have a style, it’s my style, I will always stay close to the ground, close to the people. Hopefully still in my season ticket [seat].
He said it was brilliant meeting people in Cardiff this week. (See 8.25am.)
He said, as mayor of Greater Manchester, he used to bring in ideas for his chief of staff, Kevin Lee, that he had picked up in Greggs, or at the pub.
That’s how we did it, just to be close and listen. And that’s what I’ll do.
I’ll be out and about in August in all parts of the UK, definitely in the south that I’m off to Gravesend later to show I’m for the south too.
Burnham thanks David Blunkett, Margaret Beckett and Neil Kinnock in particular for their help as mentors
Burnham singled out three people for particular thanks.
First, David Blunkett, the former home secretary. Burnham served as his PPS when he entered parliament.
He said:
I would say he taught me everything I know but certainly not about football.
Next, Margaret Beckett, the former Labour deputy leader.
Can I also say to Dame Margaret Beckett, you were a wonderful friend to me and guide throughout my my time in the cabinet.
You were always there for me to give me that nudge that I needed.
And, finally, Neil Kinnock.
He is the man that fired up a young Andy Burnham in the north-west of England in the mid 1980s with rhetoric of the kind that remains unmatched.
I would say, in modern politics, it has always been something that I treasure to get a message from him, with his advice and the care and the thought he puts in to those messages. They they mean everything to me.
I would not be standing here, I would have not have joined this great party of ours in 1985, had it not been for the legend that is Neil Kinnock.
Burnham says he will be a pro-business Labour leader
Burnham said he would be pro-business.
I will be a pro-business leader of the Labour party as I was a pro-business mayor of Greater Manchester.
We turned places round together and that is the way we run in Manchester and we will take to the whole country.
And as part of that, more power to reindustrialise and to build an education system based on parity between academic and technical education, to give every young person growing up in different parts of the country a path in life to university or to a work placement, to apprenticeship and into a good job.
Burnham says his fifth pledge is about devolution.
We will take power back from Westminster and Whitehall and give it to the place where you live.
As an example, he says Steve Rotheram, the Liverpool city region mayor, has been at a meeting today discussing “a plan to put the entire Merseyrail network back in public ownership by 2028”.
Burnham says he will be PM for 'all places'
Burnham says his fourth commitment is about being a PM for all parts of Britain.
This is my fourth commitment to you. I mean it when I say all places.
I will be a leader for the north, the south, the east and the west, for Scotland, Wales and for Northern Ireland.
Burnham says the right say 'take back control' even though 'they gave it away in first place'
Burnham talks about where he thinks Britain has gone wrong.
I am clear Britain took a series of wrong turns in the 1980s.
Political power was centralised and economic power was privatised.
The country surrendered control of the essentials – housing, water, energy, transport -and left people exposed to higher costs.
That in turn led to the concentration of more wealth and power in the hands of fewer people and fewer places.
Large parts of Britain were industrialised without the power to set new ambitions for themselves.
Proud British towns, now a shadow of what they once were, and high streets in decline, so common up and down the country.
Slowly, at times imperceptibly, over four decades, political and economic power drained away out of our communities in every region and nation of the UK.
He goes on to develop the control theme.
If local places don’t control something as basic as a bus service, how can they connect people to opportunity and turn things around?
If the sell off of council homes leave country chasing rents in the private rented sector through the benefits system and paying for temporary accommodation for thousands of families, as they have to do here in London and elsewhere across the country, how then will we find the money to invest in prevention and improve people’s lives?
The truth is, we can’t.
And if we don’t have sufficient public control over the cost of the essentials, how can we have control over inflation, public spending and the rest of the economy?
The right use the phrase “take back control”, but they are the ones who gave it away in the first place.
Updated
Burnham says his party will win by being 'boldly, confidently, authentically Labour'
Burnham says his third change is about setting a new direction.
My third change is our political direction. Yes, we will work with other parties where we can, but doing so from the clarity of knowing exactly where we stand.
As your leader, I will set a direction that is distinctively Labour.
We won’t try to out-Green the Greens or out-Reform Reform or doing what we’ve done in the past – wearing too many Tory clothes.
Let me tell you, I’m quite happy that Kemi doesn’t approve of my wardrobe choices because I’m not keen on theirs either.
From here we do it differently.
We win by being us boldly, confidently, authentically us – Labour.
Burnham says he wants politics to be less toxic.
We may find our political discourse in this country becomes that little bit less toxic, and we should be working to achieve that too.
And the turbulence of the last decade may not quite feel as so inevitable as it does today.
Burnham says he wants a 'new politics', based on problem-solving not point-scoring
Burnham moves on to the second change he is proposing – a move to a new politics.
I will work to build a new politics. The country is crying out for it.
We might enjoy the point-scoring against others. The public don’t.
How can politicians point fingers when living standards are falling?
And politics as a whole isn’t working for them. It infuriates them and makes them switch off.
In Makerfield, I decided to make a break with this. I said we hadn’t been good enough. I told people what I would do to fix it.
You know what? People started to listen again. They gave us a fair hearing. As the great British public always do. And then another chance.
Burnham says this is the last chance to change.
But let’s be honest, everybody, this is a last chance to change.
And we must take it together. Unite it together. Tell people what we will do rather than always going on about others.
And if we do more of of that, let’s see if we can get the ear of the country as well.
Let’s take a problem-solving rather than a point-scoring approach.
Let’s have the courage to fix the big things that politics has neglected, like social care, and have the conviction to go out there together and argue for our plans.
Burnham vows to end Labour's 'insidious briefing culture'
Burnham says his first change is about changing Labour’s culture.
First, I will work relentlessly to build a culture of one Labour team because change starts with us.
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.
He goes on to invert the famous joke used against him.
When a Burnhamite walks into a bar, as many Burnhamites are known to do – talking about you, Kevin [Kevin Lee, his long-serving chief of staff] – in future, when a Burnhamite walks into a bar, I want the barman to say, ‘Great to see you, we don’t like factional politics in here.’
Burnham says 'change starts with honesty'
Burnham says “change starts with honesty”.
He goes on:
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.
For decades of the neoliberalism that began in the 1980s have not been kind to the places that built our party, nor to the communities across the UK in rural and coastal areas.
So we pledge today to them to be better.
And as I accept the honour of leading this party forward, I will tell you about five things I will do to make or so to make us better.
Burnham goes back to Labour’s history.
This labour movement, the trade union movement, was forged in the steelworks and ironworks of Sheffield, Scunthorpe, Port Talbot and Teesside, in the coalfields of south Wales, central Scotland, Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire, Yorkshire and Lancashire, in the mills across the Pennines, west and wast, in the shipyards on the Clyde and on the Tyne, and in the dockyards of Liverpool and here in London.
This sounds like a lift from Al Carn’s resignation speech in the Commons.
Burnham recalls addressing the 20th anniversay memorial event for the Hillsborough tragedy. He says it made him “confront the fact that this country does not work for working class communities like the city of my birth.”
He goes on:
In fact, it’s worse. It turned its back on them.
Political power was used viciously against them to protect vested interests …
And let us never forget, these are the very same places that built this labour movement, this trade union movement where we are today.
Burnham recalls working with Starmer on the initial version of the Hillsborough law.
Ten years ago, [Starmer] and I worked together, drawing up the original Hillsborough law in my office in the aftermath of the second Hillsborough inquest, and I drew on all of his legal expertise.
To be in parliament on Tuesday when Keir delivered on his promise to the Hillsborough families and all of the other campaigners who were part of the Hillsborough Law Now campaign, a promise to end the cover up culture in this country, to pass power from the authorities to ordinary people and to prevent anyone in future going through what the Hillsborough families did – it felt to me like life coming full circle.
Burnham pays tribute to Starmer
Burnham pays tribute to Keir Starmer.
I am ready to lead and to build on the foundation laid by one person more than any other.
Under Keir Starmer’s leadership, we went from our worst defeat to one of the best victories in our history.
Keir put Labour back in a position to change people’s lives and that is what we have been doing these last two years.
New rights for workers and for renters, NHS waiting lists falling for the first time in years – in fact, since I was health secretary, I think, so. Well done Wes [Streeting] – rail back under public control, Britain’s reputation rebuilt on the world stage and, as Lucy said just this week, the biggest rebalancing of the scales of justice this country has ever seen.
Today we thank you for his service to our party and to our country.
Burnham says he wants to give people 'hope back'
Andy Burnham takes the stage. “What a moment,” he says.
He says there is no need to offer his commiserations to Catherine West because she backed him too. (Her nomination was a Coyle initiative, not hers.)
He goes on:
All of them [Labour MPs who backed him] heard the call from the people of Makerfield on behalf of forgotten places everywhere, up and down this country, for a return of the labour they once knew.
And now we answer that call.
We will be that version of Labour again.
We are united today, as Holly said, as Lucy said and Shabana said. And thank you so much for your words.
We are united and we 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.
And that’s what we’re going to do, everybody. We’re going to give them hope back.
Updated
Shabana Mahmood confirms Burnham is the new Labour leader
Shabana Mahmood is up next.
She says the NEC set out the timetable for a contest. The returning officer has confirmed the requirements have been met.
“It’s hardly a nailbitter, folks,”
She says, despite the efforts of a lone MP (Neil Coyle – the MP who nominate Catherine West), there was only one eligible candidate.
She says:
One candidate received 379 nominations.
Having met the threshold of 20% of the parliamentary Labour party, they were eligible to proceed to the next stage.
One other candidate received one nomination and is not eligible to proceed.
Among the affiliated trade unions and socialist societies, the one eligible candidate received 23 nominations in total. This included nominations from all 11 trade unions, comprising well over 5% of the affiliated membership.
There being no other eligible nominated candidate, it is therefore my honour to declare that the duly elected leader of the Labour party is Andy Burnham.
Hollie Ridley, the outgoing general secretary, speaks next. Powell points out that she is the returning officer in this election (which Andy Burnham has won unopposed).
She says Shabana Mahmood will announce the new leader in her capacity as chair of the national executive committee.
But first Ridley thanks staff.
And she says she has to read out a declaration, as returning officer, saying the election has been fair and conducted in accordance with Labour rules.
Powell says she thinks Labour will be able to show it can change people’s lives for the better.
Powell also thanks Labour staff.
I strongly believe that we have come through this process stronger, more united and showing the very best version of ourselves to the country.
Powell refers to Starmer’s achievements.
Under his leadership, he did just that, lifting half a million children out of poverty, real wages rising and interest rates falling, restoring Britain’s standing around the world as a force for good and ending no fault evictions.
Rail back into public ownership and giving our mayors powers over buses, of which I’m sure we’ll hear more about.
Day one rights to sick pay and finally ending zero hours contracts.
And just this week, Hillsborough Law. What a moment that was.
And finally ending the hereditary principle in the House of Lords.
She also pays tribute to the way Starmer and his team “conducted themselves in recent weeks with dignity and with grace”.
Powell pays tribute to Keir Starmer.
His legacy will be of the guy who helped save the Labour party.
He took us from that historic defeat and just four years later took us to that historic election victory. And we thank him for that.
And that meant that we had a really strong Labour government that was able to deliver on our Labour values.
Powell jokes the tension is like the World Cup semi-final. Wouldn’t it have been nice if England won 379 to one.
She is referring to Burnham’s nominations.
Catherine West got the single nomination.
Lucy Powell, the deputy leader, is opening proceedings.
‘Well Conference,” she starts (which is very Labour).
She says it feels like the last day of term – non-uniform day.
“But not for you Andy,” she says.
Andy Burnham is coming in to loud applause. And some cheering.
The Labour event is starting.
It is not a very high-tech venue. Colleagues at the Labour special conference say they are in a basement with very poor wifi, and very poor mobile reception.
A handful of pro-Palestine protesters gathered outside ahead of a special conference to officially make Andy Burnham Labour leader, the Press Association reports. They held up a banner reading “stop arming Israel”.
Burnham says his premiership will be about 'changing how Britain is governed'
Andy Burnham has been posting on social media.
He posted this a few minutes ago.
The next few days are about more than changing who governs Britain.
They’re about changing how Britain is governed.
And then he posted a link to a livestream of the special conference, saying:
This is our chance to put power back where it belongs.
Here is the scene at Labour’s special conference, where journalists are waiting for Andy Burnham. In their London Playbook briefing for Politico, Sam Francis and Megan McElroy report.
Playbook is told today’s crowd will be rather smaller than the one Labour once imagined, back when officials were considering hiring Burnham’s beloved Everton FC’s ground to announce his victory. The guest list has not been released, but one absence is confirmed: Keir Starmer. Downing Street says the prime minister will not make it back in time from Ukraine for the official handover.
Labour on course for easy win in Greater Manchester mayoral election, poll suggests
When Andy Burnham first tried to return to the Commons, by applying to be Labour’s candidate in the Gorton and Denton byelection, Labour’s national executive committee blocked him – in part because, they argued, Labour might find it hard to hold the Greater Manchester mayoralty in the byelection caused by his resignation.
When he next applied to be a candidate, for Makerfield, the NEC no longer felt able to say no because the results for Labour in the May elections were so bad that the case for having Burnham in parliament became overwhelming.
There was still, though, a fear that Reform UK could win the mayoralty.
Not any more. Today YouGov has published polling that suggests Labour is on course for a big win.
The byelection is on Thursday 30 July.
It looks as if Keir Starmer has started moving out. A removals van has been seen at the back of Downing Street.
Burnham to argue Britain has been on wrong path for 40 years
The Telegraph live blog is normally a pretty good read (although not as good as ours, obviously). But today Andy Burnham may want to give it a miss. At the Telegraph they don’t seem very enthusiastic about a Burnham premiership, and here is a selection of the blog headlines: ‘Burnham is coming for your home’; Burnham could crash the economy, claims Truss; Burnham accused of ‘waving away’ scrutiny on path to power; ‘Burnham is already a global laughing stock’.
Still, the main headline, Burnham to blame Thatcher for Britain’s problems, is spot on.
This is what Burnham’s team told us in their overnight briefing about what he will say today.
The new Labour leader will say that ‘Britain took a series of wrong turns in the 1980s’ when ‘political power was centralised and economic power privatised’. To build an economy and a country that works for all people and places, Andy will say that it requires ‘a new path to the one we’ve been on for the last 40 years’.
This is an argument Burnham has been making for some time. There is a long extract here setting out his thinking on this in more detail. It is from Burnham’s speech at the Great North Investment Summit in May.
Andy Burnham will reportedly allow more drilling in the North Sea when he becomes PM.
A story for Bloomberg says:
Officials are working on a range of options. They include signalling willingness to approve new oil and gas fields at Jackdaw and Rosebank, and an expansion of so-called tiebacks which allow further drilling on or near existing fields.
No final decision has been made on what form the North Sea announcement will take, but Burnham is likely to indicate he is in favour of more drilling, the people said.
A complicating factor is that public consultations have been launched on Jackdaw and Rosebank it’s hard for him to formally approve them before they have finished. Government officials expect him to ultimately back at least Jackdaw.
And today the Financial Times is reporting:
Burnham has told Scottish Labour MPs that he will make an early visit to Aberdeen to underline the importance he attaches to the North Sea oil and gas industry.
Gary Smith, leader of the GMB union, and Sharon Graham, leader of Unite the Union, have slammed the Labour government’s policy of ending new exploration licences in the basin on environmental grounds as “economic madness” and “an act of self-harm” respectively.
Burnham has not said that he will change his position on the ban, which was in the 2024 Labour manifesto.
But he is expected to signal other ways in which the government can allow more drilling to take place in the North Sea, including greater use of “tiebacks” that allow further drilling next to existing fields.
The government is already committed to allowing “tiebacks” in the North Sea. A “tieback” is the term for when drilling is extended into a new area, but without the need for new surface infrastructure (ie, a new rig) being built. This explainer describes it as like having a garden hose extension.
Greater use of “tiebacks” sounds quite similar to allowing new oil and gas fields to be developed. But of course we have not seen the details.
Here is a Guardian interactive exploring what some of the options are for Andy Burnham as he forms his cabinet on Monday.
Anyone who thinks Burnham just like Starmer only better at communication 'absolutely deluded', says close ally Steve Rotheram
Anyone who thinks that Andy Burnham as PM will be just like Keir Starmer only with better communication skills is “absolutely deluded”, Steve Rotheram told the Today programme this morning.
Rotheram, the Liverpool city region mayor, is a close friend and ally of Burnham. Together they wrote Head North two years ago, which remains the best guide available to Burnham’s political agenda. Rotheram was speaking this morning in an interview on the Today programme.
-
Rotheram said that a Burnham government would “shake things up” and be significantly different from Keir Starmer’s. He was not asked about Zack Polanski’s comments this morning (see 8.43am), but he could have been referring to Polanski when he said:
If people believe that Andy Burnham is being made the prime minister so that he can communicate the same message just in a better way or a better form, then they’re absolutely deluded. Andy wants to go in there and he wants to shake things up.
And, looking ahead, he said:
People will start to see what Andy Burnham wants to do. But he’s not just there to be a better communicator than Keir Starmer was. There’s going to be people who are into a very rude awakening if that’s what they believe.
-
Rotheram rejected claims that Burnham does not have a plan for government. He said:
Of course there’s a plan. And there’s been a plan being worked on for many weeks and months now. As soon as it could look likely that there was going to be a byelection, then those gears started to click into motion.
Rotheram said Burnham set out his overall approach in his speech at the People’s History museum last month. With regard to specific policies, he said it made sense not to set them all out at the same time. “What you don’t do is you don’t put everything out there in one go,” he said.
-
Rotheram implied that Burnham might favour small tax rises. He said he and Burnham had both raised taxes as mayors, saying the “small increase” in Manchester has improved public transport. He added:
Nobody really complains about a small increase that allows you to do something that’s popular.
-
Rotheram rejected criticism of Burnham from the Labour MP Graham Stringer. In a separate interview, Stringer, MP for Blackley and Middleton South in Greater Manchester, complained about Burnham not having a plan. He said:
Andy hasn’t told us what he’s going to do. He’s not explained any plan, or any details, about policy on immigration, the economy, energy, a whole series of major policies are still a mystery in terms of what he will do about them.
Effectively nominating him would have been giving a blank cheque. He owes it both to the parliamentary Labour party and the country to be more explicit.
Rotheram said he had known Stringer for a long time and regarded him as an “old curmudgeon” who would not get excited about anything.
This morning the Times has splashed on a story claiming Andy Burnham is facing “a revolt from his core support on the Labour left over his plans to appoint Shabana Mahmood”.
The only MP quoted on the record in the story criticising Mahmood is Rachael Maskell, a prominent leftwinger who is comfortable speaking out against the leadership. She told the paper Ed Miliband would be a better chancellor because he “has Treasury experience and he’s been able to bring our party together around some very difficult issues”. She criticised Mahmood’s record on immigration and said Mahmood “hasn’t got the level of skill and experience to provide the leadership that is needed in the Treasury”.
Even though there may not be many other MPs speaking out publicly like Maskell, that does not mean there aren’t some who agree in private. The Times story quotes two of them speaking anonymously. It says:
A senior ally of Burnham said: “Shabana has no sense of the economics. It’s just not something she’s ever spoken about. She’s not collaborative. It’s not clear how she would drive the machine.”
Another Labour MP said: “It’s baffling a lot of people because nobody knows what her views are on the economy. Does she even have any? She’s never done a speech or intervention. It’s just absolutely bizarre and I can’t see her as a sensible appointment.
“Ed would have been a much more experienced chancellor because his original background was in finance. He was central to Gordon Brown’s team. It doesn’t bode well for the fundamental rethink of how we actually do government.”
A note to readers
I’m afraid I have some bad news; from the end of next week, we will no longer be opening comments on the Politics Live blog.
This decision has not been taken lightly. Politics Live has been running since 2010, and your comments have been part of what has made it a success. I myself have always found them helpful, both as a source of information, and for challenge and criticism that have made our journalism better.
But having comments open on a blog like Politics Live, which regularly attracts more than 4,000 comments a day, is extremely, extremely resource-intensive. Comments need to be moderated and, as the Guardian’s online content has expanded over the last 16 years, there are more and more places elsewhere on our website where moderators are also needed. We have now got to the point where we can’t keep comments open here and do all the audience engagement that we want to do across the site as a whole.
It is important to stress that closing comments does not mean we don’t want to hear from you. If anything, it’s the opposite. Recently the moderators have been focusing more on Conversations, our new Q&A series where Guardian journalists answer reader questions. These are producing really good, informative engagement and we will be doing more of them. If you have not engaged with them already, you should; they’re excellent.
I did one myself earlier this year and, with comments closed, I will be doing them regularly within the blog, every few weeks.
I also want to carry on hearing from you every day and, to allow that to happen, we are setting up a new email address for the blog. I will give details on Monday 27 July, when we start the no-comments regime. I would like you to use it to pose any questions you have, either for me to answer in the blog or privately. I will be monitoring it closely, as will the other reporters who write the blog when I’m away.
I know this will come as a shock to those who are very regular readers and contributors of BTL comments. I know you will miss your regular fix, and I’m sorry about that. But the relationship’s not over; it is just changing, and hopefully getting an upgrade.
Updated
Zack Polanski says progressives worry Burnham looks like 'Keir Starmer with different face'
Zack Polanski, the Green party leader, used to be relatively positive about the prospect of Andy Burnham becoming Labour leader. More recently he has sounded less enthusiastic, particularly after the reports saying Burnham is going to appoint Shabana Mahmood, the home secretary, as his chancellor.
In an interview on Sky News this morning, Polanski said he was worried that Burnham could end up like Keir Starmer “with a different face”.
He said:
Let’s see what [Burnham] does as prime minister. And if he does bring in the wealth tax, if he does build council homes, I’ll be the first to applaud that.
[But] I think people who are on the left or who want to see progressive politics are looking at Andy Burnham and going, this looks a lot like Keir Starmer with a different face.
Polanski also argued that, if people wanted progressive politics, they could get “the full version” with his party.
I think we’re still going to see [under Burnham] a party where inequality gets wider, where we’ve seen them apologise for Labour’s history in Gaza, but he’s still not signalled that he’s going to stop selling arms to Israel.
I think again and again we’re going to hear rhetoric which is more in line with what the Green party are saying. But why have semi-skimmed when you could come to the Green party and actually have the full version, where we’re both saying and doing things?
Burnham to say his government will be ‘unashamedly Labour’ in first speech as party leader
Good morning. Today the Labour party is going to formally announce at a “special conference” that Andy Burnham is its new leader. We will get a speech from Burnham at that event, and then he is expected to give another speech at an event later this afternoon.
As Kiran Stacey and Rowena Mason report, in his special conference speech Burnham will say he will lead a government that will have the “courage to fix the big things that politics has neglected” and the “conviction to argue for our plans”.
According to an overnight briefing, Burnham will also promise that the party under his leadership will be “unashamedly Labour in our priorities and in the decisions we take, putting people and places at the heart of everything we do”.
But Burnham does not actually get to start forming his government until Monday, when he will be appointed prime minister, take over in No 10 and start appointing his government.
Burnham’s communication via social media has been excellent in recent weeks and we saw another example last night when he posted video of himself in Cardiff holding an “Ask Andy Anything” event, sitting on a chair on the main pedestrianised shopping street and speaking to people passing by. “Ask Andy Anything” is not an invitation he has extended to journalists like Nick Robinson or Beth Rigby recently (he has done very little media as he has been planning for government), and if anyone did ask him who he was going to appoint as chancellor, the answer did not make it into the final video.
But there was a tantalising hint as to one of his priorities when he asked about social care. Burnham said that his father has Alzheimer’s and that as a result he was very familiar with the problems in the social care system. “If there’s one area that I’m going to expend quite of a lot of social capital [on], it’s going to be on social care,” he said.
Here are the key timings for the day.
Noon: Labour holds its special conference to announce Burnham as leader. Lucy Powell, the deputy Labour leader, Shabana Mahmood, chair of the national executive committee (as well as home secretary, and possible next chancellor), and Hollie Ridley, the outgoing general secretary, are all due to speak as well as Burnham.
2.30pm: Burnham is due to give a speech in the south-east of England.
If you want to contact me, please post a message below the line when comments are open (between 10am and 3pm), or message me on social media. I can’t read all the messages BTL, but if you put “Andrew” in a message aimed at me, I am more likely to see it because I search for posts containing that word.
If you want to flag something up urgently, it is best to use social media. You can reach me on Bluesky at @andrewsparrowgdn.bsky.social. The Guardian has given up posting from its official accounts on X, but individual Guardian journalists are there, I still have my account, and if you message me there at @AndrewSparrow, I will see it and respond if necessary.
I find it very helpful when readers point out mistakes, even minor typos. No error is too small to correct. And I find your questions very interesting too. I can’t promise to reply to them all, but I will try to reply to as many as I can, either BTL or sometimes in the blog.
Updated
.png?w=600)
