Tears, cheers and New Order: Inside Andy Burnham’s first day as Labour leader

Andy Burnham says he will speak up for all parts of the UK in his first speech after being named Labour leader.

The new Makerfield MP has been announced as Sir Keir Starmer’s successor at the top of the party during a special conference in London.

He said he would offer ‘hope’ in his first speech – a word which he repeated eight times – before leaving the stage dancing to the song True Faith by New Order.

Burnham said the Labour movement that backed him ‘heard the call from the people of Makerfield on behalf of forgotten places everywhere up and down this country for a return of the Labour they once knew.’

‘And now we answer that call’, he said, ‘We will be that version of Labour again.’

Burnham received a thunderous round of applause and cheers when he entered the Trade Union Congress building in central London.

It contrasted with the smattering of applause Deputy Labour leader Lucy Powell received when she said she would ‘pay my respects’ to the outgoing PM, Keir Starmer.

Burnham will become Prime Minister on Monday after winning the overwhelming support of Labour backbenchers to replace Sir Keir as leader.

As Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood admitted before announcing the results, the contest ‘was hardly a nail-biter’.

Despite Number 10 being just days away, Burnham said he hadn’t decided who was going to be in his cabinet.

He added: ‘I will soon, and when I have you will see it reflects all parts of our party, all communities, it will reflect your own place within this great party of ours – a stronger, more united Labour Party lifting up a stronger and more united Britain.’

Burnham’s plans for office

He told the party Labour had a ‘last chance to change’ and pledged to build ‘a new politics’.

He said: ‘The country is crying out for it.

‘We might enjoy the point scoring against others. The public don’t.

‘How can politicians point fingers when living standards are falling and politics as a whole isn’t working for them? It infuriates them and makes them switch off.

‘In Makerfield, I decided to make a break with this. I said we hadn’t been good enough. I told people what I would do to fix it.’

Burnham laid out five key pledges which would mark a clean break from SirKeir’s time in Number 10.

While they were light on detail, he criticised the centralisation of power and the privatisation of key industries over the last few decades.

He said: ‘The country surrendered control of the essentials – housing, water energy, transport and left people exposed to higher costs.’

Burnham pledged to hand more power to regional communities across the UK.

He also insisted he would speak up for all parts of the UK, adding: ‘I will be a leader for the north, the south, the east and the west, plus Scotland, Wales and for Northern Ireland.

Yes, 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.

‘That was my job, but now I do the same for everywhere, because I see the same challenges everywhere I look.’

How Labour reacted to its new leader

Labour members in the hall were boisterous and optimistic about the new energy Burnham will give the Party.

That sentiment was shared by Labour MP Dawn Butler, who was in the audience alongside other supportive backbenchers.

She said of Burnham’s address: ‘I thought the speech was human and it connected with people. They want to feel a connection to the people who are making the decisions which are running their lives.’

Burnham tried to reassure listeners that he would not be a leader fixated on the North, saying he would govern for the ‘north, south, east and west.’

Butler, who is the chair of Labour’s Parliamentary Labour Party, believes him.

She told Metro: ‘It is a worry and a fear for some people that he is going to abandon the south. What I can say is I will not let that happen.

‘Andy knows I will not let that happen and he wants me to hold him to account.’

Another excited audience member was former party leader Neil Kinnock, who looked visibly emotional when Burnham praised him during his winning speech.

Kinnock, who led the Party from 1983 to 1992 told Metro that Burnham will ‘lift spirits’ and ‘show direction and purpose’.

He added: ‘That is how he is made. That is the basis on which he has become leader.’

Burnham insisted ‘I have a plan’ during his address, adding: ‘I know what I want to do working with you all.’

But the former Manchester mayor gave away very few details about what policies he wanted to introduce.

Kinnock had a number of his own that he wants his once-mentee to adopt.

He said that included ‘intensifying’ the UK relationship with the EU and collecting £12bn in revenue by ‘equalising capital gains tax and income tax rates.’

His biggest hope, however, is that Burnham will be bold on social care. He wants the government review into social care, which will give its long-term recommendations in 2028, to report back earlier.

Kinnock explained: ‘So we implement further changes on top of the substantial ones already made. It is a vital social requirement and it would be an economic boost.’

It sounds as if the new Labour leader might be listening to his predecessor’s advice. Burnham pledged in his speech to tackle problems ‘politics has neglected, like social care.’