{"id":3819,"date":"2026-07-20T17:10:50","date_gmt":"2026-07-20T17:10:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=3819"},"modified":"2026-07-20T17:10:50","modified_gmt":"2026-07-20T17:10:50","slug":"andy-burnham-accuses-uk-of-taking-wrong-turns-since-the-1980s-in-first-speech-as-prime-minister-outside-10-downing-street","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=3819","title":{"rendered":"Andy Burnham accuses UK of taking wrong turns since the 1980s in first speech as Prime Minister outside 10 Downing Street"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p>Burnham spoke for several minutes outside 10 Downing St., where he promised to end street sleeping by homeless people and deliver a \u201ccircuit breaker\u201d for a system he says has taken wrong turns since the 1980s.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=3817\">JD Vance becomes first sitting vice president to welcome a child in office in over 150 years<\/a><\/p>\n<p>After weeks as leader-in-waiting, Burnham officially became prime minister during a meeting with\u00a0King Charles III\u00a0at Buckingham Palace, where the monarch asked him to form a government.<\/p>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>He succeeded\u00a0Keir Starmer, on a day when Britain\u2019s political turbulence gave way, at least temporarily, to smooth choreography.<\/p>\n<p>Buckingham Palace has released a photo of the king and Burnham shaking hands. The ceremony known as \u201ckissing hands\u201d marks the transfer of power.<\/p>\n<p>The palace said in a statement that the king \u201creceived in audience the Rt. Hon. Andrew Burnham MP and requested him to form a new Administration. The Rt. Hon Andrew Burnham MP accepted The King\u2019s offer and kissed hands upon his appointment as Prime Minister and First Lord of the Treasury.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Burnham is the seventh U.K. prime minister since 2016 in a now well-rehearsed handover after replacing Starmer as\u00a0leader of the center-left governing Labour Party\u00a0on Friday.<\/p>\n<div>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Burnham said he was \u201cacutely conscious\u201d that of the revolving door he was walking through.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis a moment for reflection and new resolution,\u201d he said. \u201cIt requires my generation of politicians to raise our game and rise to the new challenge. Britain needs to show the world that we can regain our stability once again, and that is our challenge to make politics work, to make it work better.\u201d<\/p>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Just over an hour earlier, Starmer made a short farewell speech outside the prime minister\u2019s residence, saying \u201cmy work is done.\u201d<\/p>\n<div>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>The outgoing leader, forced to resign by his own party, said Britain is now \u201cstronger and fairer than it was two years ago,\u201d when he took office.<\/p>\n<div>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>\u201cI go with good grace, I go with a smile and I go proud of everything that we have achieved,\u201d Starmer said before heading to Buckingham Palace to offer his resignation to the king. It was an offer \u201cHis Majesty was graciously pleased to accept,\u201d the palace said in a statement.<\/p>\n<h4>The king will ask Burnham to take charge<\/h4>\n<p>Burnham then went to the palace in his turn and Charles will ask him to form a government. That\u2019s when he officially becomes prime minister, a moment known as \u201ckissing hands.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The king\u2019s role harkens back to a time when the monarch exercised supreme power and chose a prime minister to run the government. Today, the king has no political power, but the monarch still officially offers the job to the leader of the party that can command a majority in the House of Commons. No hand-kissing is involved.<\/p>\n<p>Britain\u2019s parliamentary democracy allows governing parties to change leaders, and thus prime ministers, without the need for a general election. The next national poll doesn\u2019t have to be held until 2029, though Burnham can call one sooner if he wants.<\/p>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>From the palace, Burnham will go to Downing Street, where he will make his first speech as prime minister.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=3815\">Volvo car CEO pushes back on Navarro\u2019s \u2018Pirate\u2019 China comments<\/a><\/p>\n<p>A spokesperson said Burnham will say that he\u2019s \u201cacutely aware\u201d of how many changes of leader the country has been through in the past decade, and will pledge to restore stability.<\/p>\n<p>Starmer said much the same when he took office\u00a0two years ago.\u00a0Last month he announced he would resign after missteps and judgment errors that eroded his standing with his party and the public.<\/p>\n<p>Burnham was the\u00a0only candidate in a contest\u00a0to become the party\u2019s new leader, securing nominations from 379 of the 403 Labour lawmakers in the House of Commons.<\/p>\n<div>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<h4>The new leader pledges a new style of politics<\/h4>\n<p>The former mayor of Greater Manchester has pledged to make politics \u201cless toxic,\u201d improve living standards across the country and \u201cbring back the hope we have all been missing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI will work to build a new politics,\u201d he said after becoming Labour leader on Friday. \u201cThe country is crying out for it.\u201d<\/p>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Critics and supporters alike will soon be clamoring for details of how Burnham plans to fulfill his pledges.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFundamentally, it only will work if you can generate significant economic growth, because it\u2019s the lack of growth that\u2019s really holding the country back,\u201d said Joshi Herrmann, who has followed Burnham\u2019s career as founder of Manchester news site The Mill.<\/p>\n<div>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Attention will quickly turn to who Burnham will appoint to his Cabinet. He\u2019s expected to make changes to Starmer\u2019s top team, especially to the biggest jobs of Treasury chief, foreign secretary and home secretary.<\/p>\n<p>In his first speech as Labour leader, Burnham praised Starmer\u2019s achievements, saying he would \u201cbuild on the foundation laid\u201d by his predecessor.<\/p>\n<p>Starmer became Labour leader in 2020 after one of the party\u2019s worst election defeats, and led it to a landslide victory four years later. But he was soon defeated by the challenges of governing.<\/p>\n<p>At his final Prime Minister\u2019s Questions session in Parliament on Wednesday, Starmer defended his government\u2019s record on the international stage \u2014 especially its support for Ukraine \u2014 and its domestic policy achievements. He mentioned stronger protections for\u00a0working people, a reduction in child poverty, a law designed to\u00a0stop official cover-ups\u00a0after tragedies, and\u00a0higher defense spending.<\/p>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>\u201cIn 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 and won a landslide general election victory in 2024,\u201d Starmer said in his final remarks before leaving Downing St, hand-in-hand with his wife Victoria.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSince then, it has been the privilege of my life to serve you and this great country as prime minister. I am confident that Britain is now stronger and fairer than it was two years ago.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=3813\">The American Dream according to Bill Ackman<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The new Labour leader won 379 of 403 MP nominations unopposed and pledges to end the revolving door at No. 10 \u2014\u00a0seven since 2016.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3818,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[317],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3819","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-united-kingdom"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Andy Burnham accuses UK of taking wrong turns since the 1980s in first speech as Prime Minister outside 10 Downing Street - 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