Andy Burnham will set out a new direction for Britain as he becomes Labour leader at a special party conference in central London, the BBC reports. He is due to take over as prime minister on Monday, succeeding Sir Keir Starmer.
Burnham emerged as the sole leadership candidate after securing overwhelming backing from Labour’s parliamentary party — 379 MPs — along with most affiliated trade unions earlier in the week. With no other contenders able to reach the nomination threshold, the contest effectively ended before any wider ballot.
Under party rules, the Home Secretary, Shabana Mahmood, in her capacity as chair of Labour’s National Executive Committee, will formally announce Burnham as leader at the conference.
In his acceptance speech, Burnham will promise a government “unashamedly Labour in our priorities,” saying it will have the “courage to fix the big things that politics has neglected.” According to the BBC, he will also say the administration will have the “conviction to argue for our plans.”
Burnham is expected to outline a “distinctively Labour” economic programme, including greater public control of utilities such as water and a push for reindustrialisation.
