Burnham Takes Over, Tackling Homelessness and Firing Rightwingers

New Prime Minister Andy Burnham makes a speech outside 10 Downing Street, London, after meeting King Charles III and accepting his invitation to become Prime Minister and form a new government, July 20, 2026

Andrew Murray

ANDY BURNHAM walked into Downing Street as prime minister today, pledging to introduce a new political and economic model for Britain, starting with an end to rough sleeping.

He began by firing many of Sir Keir Starmer’s phalanx of right-wing ministers, with Chancellor Rachel Reeves, deputy premier David Lammy, Science Secretary Liz Kendall, Labour Together factional bruiser Steve Reed and uber-Blairite Business Secretary Peter Kyle all shown the door.

Concluding an epic political manoeuvre which sees him become the seventh premier in 10 years just a month after returning to the Commons following a nine-year absence, Mr Burnham declared this a “circuit-breaker” moment in politics.

Standing in Downing Street and speaking without notes with an informality quite beyond his predecessor, the new Prime Minister said: “I will soon go through that door behind me and issue my first instruction — to end rough sleeping in our country.”

In a speech which largely reprised his address upon being elected Labour leader last week, he promised “a new political model and a new economic model.”

“In the 1980s Britain took some wrong turns. Political power was centralised, economic power privatised, large parts of the country industrialised and they still haven’t recovered,” Mr Burnham said.

Mr Burnham conceded that his generation of politicians had failed thus far.

“We have not been good enough and we need to be better,” he said.

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

Later this year, Mr Burnham said he will launch “a 10-year plan laying out a path from where we are now to where I believe we all want Britain to be, wherever we’re coming from, whatever party we support,” with some initial measures on the cost of living to be announced on Tuesday.

He committed to building more council housing and helping young people into work but also to sticking to Sir Keir’s military spending boom and the Treasury’s notorious fiscal rules.

Former Labour MP Laura Pidcock pointed out that these last two commitments showed that for all “the talk of hope and change, there are exactly the same set of struggles on our hands today as there were yesterday.”

Nevertheless, there was some hint of enthusiasm in the Downing Street air today, missing when Labour won office under Sir Keir two years ago.

Mr Burnham set to work appointing his Cabinet, with rightwinger Shabana Mahmood regarded as favourite to be named chancellor, much to the left’s chagrin. Her rival Ed Miliband is expected to become foreign secretary instead.

There will also be Cabinet places for former deputy premier Angela Rayner and Blairite favourite Wes Streeting, two possible successors to Sir Keir before Mr Burnham’s sensational comeback from Manchester, as well as close aide, ex-transport secretary Louise Haigh.

TUC general secretary Paul Nowak praised Mr Burnham for signalling “an end to the broken economic status quo” and prioritising action on the cost of living.

Britain needed “urgent action to bring down energy bills, taxing bankers’ enormous profits to pay for it and delivering Labour’s workers’ rights agenda in full,” he added.

Green Party leader Zack Polanski urged Mr Burnham to take action on rents and introduce a wealth tax, as well as embracing action to tackle climate change and introduce electoral reform.

He also said the new premier “must do more than make apologies” for Sir Keir’s support for Israel’s genocide in Gaza while standing up to US President Donald Trump over the Iran war.

Unison general secretary Andrea Egan said Mr Burnham’s “diagnosis of the UK’s problems is right, from privatisation to the concentration of wealth in the hands of a few.

“But we need policies to match. For the government to deliver real change it must be prepared to tax the super-rich, invest properly in public services and take key utilities into full public ownership.”

Referring to Mr Burnham’s promise to “bring back hope,” National Education Union general secretary Daniel Kebede said: “Delivering hope will require an end to unfunded pay awards that do not value educators and only serve to fuel the retention crisis in education.  

“Delivering hope will mean that good intentions on Send reforms are coupled with the investment that is so desperately needed to make them a success.”  

And TSSA general secretary Maryam Eslamdoust said: “People up and down the country need a government that is prepared to invest in Britain’s future, and that starts with properly funding our transport infrastructure and creating the skilled, secure jobs our economy needs.

“This means expanding transport jobs, protecting and improving workers’ rights, pay, terms and conditions.”

Sir Keir earlier ended his premiership, the most unpopular in history, with a speech pledging support for his successor before heading off to Buckingham Palace to hand in his resignation.

Mr Burnham has pledged £340 million to back up his commitment to end rough sleeping, a policy which Jeremy Corbyn said when Labour leader was his top priority should he have won a general election.

Mr Burnham visited a homeless charity in London earlier in the day and said: “For too long, we’ve been told that ending rough sleeping will take decades or even that it’s impossible. I’m not having that. This is something a government can fix if it chooses to.

“We’ll get to work immediately, bringing together national and local government with the investment needed to get it done.”

Big Issue founder John Bird, now a peer, said that “this is a prime minister with his priorities straight.”