Andy Burnham vowed Friday to “give hope” back to the British people as he was confirmed as the ruling Labour Party’s new leader, set to be the next UK prime minister.
“People and places … have been waiting too long for politics to let them hope again … We’re going to give them hope back,” he vowed at a special party conference.
“I am for us, for all of us,” he told cheering delegates.
Burnham takes over from Keir Starmer, who resigned last month after months of political turmoil, scandal and missteps. Centre-left Labour retains an overwhelming majority in parliament after the 2024 elections, so the leader of the largest party becomes the country’s prime minister, without new polls being held.
It is only four weeks since ex-Manchester mayor Burnham sensationally returned as a member of parliament following a nine-year absence, determined to replace Starmer.
On Monday, he will become the UK’s seventh prime minister in a decade, with Labour MPs betting Burnham is the party’s best chance of reining in Nigel Farage’s anti-immigrant Reform UK party, tipped in the polls to win the next general election, expected in 2029.