Andy Burnham has taken over from Keir Starmer as prime minister of the UK, promising to deliver a “new political model and a new economic model” for the country.
Speaking to the nation in front of 10 Downing Street on Monday, the former mayor of Manchester said he was “acutely conscious” of the fact that he is the UK’s seventh prime minister since 2016.
“It requires my generation of politicians to raise our game and rise to the new challenge,” Burnham, a minister during the New Labour era of Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, said.
Echoing another former Labour leader, Jeremy Corbyn, Burnham said his first instruction as prime minister would be to “end rough sleeping in our country”.
As mayor of Manchester, Burnham made a similar promise, but after initial success, homelessness in the city has risen since 2021.
