Andy Burnham was confirmed this Monday as the new Prime Minister of the United Kingdom after being received by King Charles III at Buckingham Palace. The new Labour leader arrived at 10 Downing Street replacing Keir Starmer, who left the position three days after Burnham was appointed head of the political caucus.
In his first official speech, delivered without notes or a lectern in front of the official residence, the new British premier stated that eradicating homelessness is the immediate priority of his administration and expressed that the government can restore hope to the nation.
Thus, Burnham assured that he will seek to “end rough sleeping in this country.”
“We will help people live well by building a more preventive state, investing in people’s success instead of paying for failure,” said the former Mayor of Greater Manchester. “And that work starts now. Soon I will walk through that door behind me and give my first instruction: to end homelessness in our country,” he assured.
The start of Burnham’s term marks a change in the direction of the Labour Party, following Starmer’s resignation due to the deterioration of his public image. The new prime minister presented himself to the public with a message of closeness and assured that citizens are tired of politics. In that vein, the new British head of government stated that his administration will seek to “place the right values and standards at the center of public management” and described this moment as a turning point for the country.
Burnham declared that his first instruction as prime minister will be the launch of an urgent national campaign to end homelessness as soon as possible.
According to the government itself in a statement published after Burnham’s initial speech, this initiative will have an initial financial backing of an additional 340 million pounds sterling beyond those already allocated for this purpose.
This increase places the total funding of the program at record levels to address what the government itself defined as “one of the country’s most blatant injustices.” Likewise, the government plan rejected the stance that ending this problem will take decades or that it is an “impossible task to accomplish.”
Burnham’s initial promise is based on data published last February by the UK Ministry of Housing, which revealed official homelessness statistics. According to the autumn 2025 report, it is estimated that 4,793 people slept on the streets for at least one night in England in the last quarter of last year.
This figure constitutes a new historical record in the United Kingdom and surpasses the previous maximum recorded in 2017. The data show that this is the fourth consecutive annual increase, with a 3% rise compared to 2024 and a 171% increase compared to 2010 records.
Specifically, regarding the demographic profile of people experiencing homelessness, most individuals in this situation are men from the United Kingdom and over 26 years old. The national rate of homeless people stands at 8.2 per 100,000 inhabitants.
Burnham’s government justified the urgency of this policy on economic efficiency and prevention grounds. “This policy is a fundamental part of his promise on the Downing Street steps to help everyone live well and build a more preventive state, investing in success instead of paying for failure,” the government statement indicates. “A study on the crisis revealed that one year of homelessness costs approximately 20,128 pounds per person, compared to 1,426 pounds for an effective preventive intervention,” it continued.
The prime minister maintained that investing in people’s success is preferable to paying for system failures and stated, in a post on X, that the phenomenon of thousands of people sleeping on the streets is a political decision and not an inevitable fact.
According to the press briefing, the first phase of the program includes the provision of 1,200 homes and intensive support for at least 3,000 people facing severe and prolonged homelessness.
This stage is part of a five-year plan aimed at reducing pressure on the National Health Service and the British criminal justice system. It was also specified that the program’s implementation will be locally directed but will have full support from the central government to provide assistance before winter arrives.
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Additionally, the prime minister committed to presenting measures this same week to address the high cost of living and announced the creation of a long-term plan—specifically 10 years—for the country that will be unveiled at the end of the year.
With this, Burnham stated that the United Kingdom must “regain its stability” and acknowledged that institutions “have not met citizens’ needs recently.”
“We will transform politics to be more collaborative, more focused on problem-solving than on seeking political gains. We will transfer power from here to all corners of the country so they can do more and, in doing so, build a new economy where essential goods are once again under stronger public control to be affordable for everyone,” the Labour leader concluded.
Among his initial announcements, the head of government highlighted the reform of the education system and increased mental health support to facilitate youth employment.
“We will help more young people find work by reforming the education system and offering them greater support, more mental health support,” assured the former Mayor of Greater Manchester. “That is the fair and sustainable way to reduce social welfare spending to meet our fiscal rules and honor our defense commitments with our international partners,” he continued.
The premier emphasized that building more social housing is a sustainable way to reduce social welfare spending and comply with fiscal rules and international defense commitments.
Also, the Saturday before his arrival at Downing Street, Burnham canceled the national digital identification plan promoted by his predecessor Starmer’s administration, which had a projected cost of 1.8 billion pounds.
Furthermore, attention now focuses on the appointments Burnham will make to his cabinet, particularly the key position of Chancellor of the Exchequer.
The importance of that appointment arises, according to France24, because the chosen profile will give a clue about the new prime minister’s plans to tackle the task of reviving a stagnant economy so that business growth and increased production boost government revenues without raising taxes.
According to the French media outlet, the decision will be between Starmer’s outgoing Energy Minister, Ed Miliband, and the current Home Secretary, Shabana Mahmood.
While Miliband is considered part of the Labour Party’s left wing, Mahmood is seen as conservative and without a well-defined economic track record, which would allow Burnham to have full leadership over economic policy.
Ministers aligned with Starmer confirmed their departure following Burnham’s arrival at Downing Street, such as Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy and the Minister of Economy and Treasury, Rachel Reeves.
Other key positions to be defined would be Home Office—pending a possible departure of Mahmood—Defense, and Foreign Affairs, an area in which the former Mayor of Greater Manchester for a decade has little experience. Despite this, Burnham already indicated that his first calls to foreign leaders will be to U.S. President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, while guaranteeing London’s “firm and unwavering” support to Kyiv.
