The former mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, has been confirmed as the new leader of the Labour Party and will be appointed prime minister on Monday.
He was the only person to put his name forward for the leadership of the party after Keir Starmer was forced out by his own MPs after securing a landslide majority in 2024. Burnham has the backing of 379 out of the 403 Labour Party members of Parliament.
Burnham says he will be a “leader for the North, the South, the East and the West, for Scotland, Wales and for Northern Ireland.”
“This is the moment to speak for all parts of the country and unite people in a common cause,” he said in his first speech after being confirmed as leader.
A key aspect of Burnham’s plan is to give more power to local leaders in cities and regions by taking it away from central government and decision-makers in Whitehall. He is opening a “Number 10 North” in Manchester, which he says will “oversee the biggest rebalancing of power our country has ever seen.”
The new Labour Party leader will be appointed as prime minister on Monday after Keir Starmer meets with King Charles to formally offer his resignation. This will result in the King asking Burnham to form a government, as the leader of the largest party in the House of Commons.
First Minister Michelle O’Neill says she is “ready to work constructively” with the incoming prime minister, but says “a different approach is needed from the British government.”
In a post on X, she said: “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.
“I look forward to meeting with Andy Burnham when he takes up the role of 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.”
DUP leader Gavin Robinson has said that Burnham must “deliver a change of direction” from the agenda that Keir Starmer led.
“Andy Burnham inherits a Labour Party that has squandered public trust, weakened confidence in government and too often put ideology ahead of common sense. If he wants to persuade people that his leadership represents more than a change of face, he must deliver a change of direction.
“That begins by breaking decisively with the failed agenda of the Starmer years. The British people have paid the price through higher taxes, weaker economic growth, rising welfare dependency and a government that has too often appeared disconnected from the concerns of ordinary working families.
“For Northern Ireland, that means an unambiguous commitment to our place within the United Kingdom. It means securing our borders, restoring Northern Ireland’s full and unfettered place within the UK internal market, and ensuring every citizen and every business is treated equally wherever they live in our country.”
Robinson’s statement ended: ‘Northern Ireland needs a Prime Minister who believes in the Union, backs those who work hard, secures our borders, invests in our national defence and governs with conviction rather than chasing the latest political fashion.
“The opportunity to change course is there. It is now for Andy Burnham to prove he is prepared to take it.”
It is not yet known whether Northern Ireland Secretary Hilary Benn will remain in the Cabinet when Burnham takes over.
