Andy Burnham Appointed UK Prime Minister

Former Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham replaced Keir Starmer as prime minister of the UK on July 20.Burnham took the keys to Number 10 Downing Street following a visit to Buckingham Palace to formally accept the invitation to form a government from King Charles.Burnham, 56, has become the seventh prime minister of the United Kingdom in just over 10 years, during a tumultuous decade for the country, marked by Brexit, the COVID-19 pandemic, soaring immigration, a rising cost of living, and rising energy prices.The new prime minister assumed the role after Starmer officially stepped down the same morning, making his own trip to see the king to relinquish his office, a little over two years after sweeping to power in a landslide general election victory, which saw the left-wing Labour Party form a government for the first time in 14 years.In his final address to the nation, Starmer said his “work is done.”“In six and a half years, I took our party from a historic defeat in 2019, changed it so it was fit to face the country upon a landslide general election victory in 2024,” he said.“Since then, it has been the privilege of my life to serve you and this great country as prime minister, and I am confident that Britain is now stronger and fairer than it was two years ago.”He further stated that Burnham had his full support and wished him “every success,” as he spoke outside Number 10 for the last time as leader, before going to meet the king.Starmer announced his resignation as Labour Party leader on June 22, just days after Burnham, who had previously served in the governments of former prime ministers Tony Blair and Gordon Brown before becoming Manchester mayor, returned to the House of Commons after winning a byelection on June 19.Burnham was crowned the new Labour leader on July 17, after receiving overwhelming support from party lawmakers.Keir Starmer delivers a farewell speech after standing down as prime minister in Downing Street on July 20, 2026. Dan Kitwood/Getty ImagesBurnham said at the time that he would “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 and wear too many Tory clothes,” he said.First among his duties in the new role will be to appoint a new cabinet, which will indicate his priorities as prime minister.Burnham’s Plans for BritainBurnham’s plans for the UK remain largely unknown, though he has given hints since it became clear he would become prime minister.His camp said on July 19 that Burnham will scrap the country’s controversial digital ID plan, which would have been required for residents to prove they were eligible to work.“All ​the time and resource that was going to be spent on a national ID scheme will go instead to where it’s most needed, ​such as helping with the cost of living,” Burnham’s spokesperson said in a statement.Digital IDs were first introduced in September 2025 by Starmer, but the idea faced backlash as people feared that it would push the UK toward a surveillance state.The digital identification cards were initially going to be required for every worker until Starmer dropped the mandatory rule and made it optional in January after pushback.He is also expected to separately announce plans for oil and gas drilling in the North Sea, according to a post by U.S. President Donald Trump on July 19.“The People of Aberdeen, in Scotland, are dancing in the streets because the new Prime Minister, Andy Burnham, has stated that he will be opening up, all the way, the invaluable North Sea Oil!” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post on July 19.Trump called it one of the “greatest sources of quality oil on Earth,” saying that it will make the UK “one of the Richest Countries anywhere in the World!”Burnham’s team has not yet confirmed this move, and approving new drilling licenses would be a reversal of a promise made by the Labour Party in its 2024 election manifesto, although fresh drilling under existing licenses was not explicitly ruled out in that pledge.The Epoch Times reached out to Burnham for comment but did not receive a response by publication time.Rachel Roberts and Jacki Thrapp contributed to this report.