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Andy Burnham<\/a> declared there were \u201cfive things\u201d he will do to improve Britain as he was confirmed as Labour<\/a>\u2019s new leader. <\/p>\n He said he was \u201cready to lead\u201d as he took the governing party\u2019s reins before officially replacing Sir Keir Starmer<\/a> as prime minister<\/a> on Monday. <\/p>\n In his acceptance speech, Mr Burnham vowed to \u201cbuild a new politics\u201d with less division and factionalism, saying the party needed to unite if it was to thwart \u201cBritain\u2019s new right\u201d.<\/p>\n He laid out five measures he claimed would fix Britain and his party. <\/p>\n Andy Burnham arrives in Gravesend, as he makes his first official visit as Labour leader<\/p>\n Getty<\/p>\n 1. Eradicating Labour\u2019s \u2018insidious briefing culture\u2019<\/p>\n Mr Burnham declared that he will \u201cwork relentlessly to build a culture of one Labour team\u201d because \u201cchange starts\u201d with his party. <\/p>\n He claimed that an \u201cinsidious briefing culture\u201d within Labour had \u201cbedevilled\u201d the party and caused mistrust among the public. <\/p>\n \u201cToday we move beyond it,\u201d he told the conference.<\/p>\n \u201cI have supported all our Labour leaders in my lifetime because I believe a united Labour Party and Labour movement is the best hope for our country, and I know you believe that too, as do our members up and down the land.\u201d<\/p>\n 2. Build a \u2018new politics\u2019<\/p>\n The government must have the \u201ccourage\u201d to fix the things that \u201cpolitics has neglected\u201d, Mr Burnham said, singling out issues such as social care. <\/p>\n He pledged to listen to the electorate and \u201cargue\u201d for Labour\u2019s vision. <\/p>\n \u201cBy seeking more consensus, we may just find the change we make is more lasting, he said. <\/p>\n \u201cWe may find our political discourse in this country becomes that little bit less toxic, and we should be working to achieve that too. And the turbulence of the last decade may not quite feel as so inevitable as it does today.\u201d<\/p>\n Andy Burnham with his wife Marie-France van Heel (right), Labour deputy leader Lucy Powell (left) and Home Secretary and Chair of Labour’s National Executive Committee Shabana Mahmood (centre) <\/p>\n PA<\/p>\n In the 1980s Britain\u2019s political power became too centralised and privatised, Mr Burnham said as he hinted that more industries would be brought into public ownership. <\/p>\n Britain had \u201csurrendered control of the essentials\u201d, including housing, water, energy and transport, which has left the public exposed to higher costs and \u201cwealth and power in the hands of fewer people and fewer places\u201d, Mr Burnham argued. <\/p>\n He pledged to work with other parties to bring about change but said Labour would not seek to \u201cout Green the Greens, or out Reform Reform\u201d or \u201cwear too many Tory clothes\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cIf we want an economy and a country that works for all people and places, which to me should always be at the very core of Labourism, then it requires a new path to the one we\u2019ve been on for the last 40 years,\u201d Mr Burnham said. <\/p>\n \u201cThe government I lead will confidently lay that path out starting next week, and that is why this change today is the most significant change moment in our politics for 40 years. <\/p>\n \u201cIt will take us to a country where life is more affordable, and all people and places are lifted from where they are now.\u201d<\/p>\n 4. A leader for \u2018all of Britain\u2019<\/p>\n Mr Burnham has faced accusations that he is pro-north at the expense of London and the south. <\/p>\n But he pledged to be a leader for all of Britain in his acceptance speech and will spend August \u201cin all parts of the UK\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cI will be a leader for the north, the south, the east, and the west, for Scotland, Wales, and for Northern Ireland,\u201d he said, <\/p>\n \u201cYes, the north of England has given me so much, everything, in fact. And in return, I have sought to give it the strongest voice I could. <\/p>\n \u201cThat was my job, but now I do the same for everywhere, because I see the same challenges everywhere I look.\u201d<\/p>\n In his final pledge, Mr Burnham said he would \u201ctake power back from Westminster and Whitehall\u201d. <\/p>\n He vowed to give more authority to regions to put in place policies that would impact local people. <\/p>\n \u201cWe want to give your area more power to build the council and social homes that you desperately need,\u201d Mr Burnham said. <\/p>\n \u201cMore power to improve your high street, backing local businesses such as the pubs and the shops that bring them to life. <\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/2285824508...jpeg\")
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