Andy Burnham declared this is Labour’s “last chance” as he made his first speech as the party leader where he issued a warning to members over Reform.
The Makerfield MP was confirmed today after a vote among party figures and will enter Downing Street on Monday as the eighth Labour leader to become Prime Minister.
Shabana Mahmood, chair of the National Executive Committee, confirmed the former Greater Manchester Mayor was elected after receiving 379 MP nominations.
Mr Burnham said: “I will work relentlessly to build a culture of one Labour team, because change starts with us. We won’t beat Britain’s new Right if we are consumed by in-fighting and pulling in different directions.”
Mr Burnham said it was “a proud moment” but added he was “ready to lead.”
He said he was going to build on “the foundation laid by one person…today we thank Keir for the service to our country.”
The former Greater Manchester Mayor continued: “We are united and we put the power that comes from that unity at the service of people and places who have been waiting too long for politics to let them hope again.
“That’s what we’re going to do, everybody. We’re going to give them hope back.”
Andy Burnham speaking at the central London event
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GB NEWS
He continued: “Four decades of the neoliberalism that begun in the 1980s have not been kind to the places that built our party, nor to the communities across the UK, nor to the communities across the UK in rural and coastal areas. So we pledge today to them to be better.”
Mr Burnham was also critical of the insurgent parties on the left and right as he said: “We won’t try to out-Green the Greens or out-Reform Reform or doing what we’ve done in the past of wearing too many Tory clothes.”
He added: “Let me tell you, I’m quite happy that Kemi [Badenoch] doesn’t approve of my wardrobe choices because I’m not keen on theirs either.
“From here we do it differently. We win by being us, boldly, confidently, authentically us. Labour. That’s how we win. I want people to understand the thinking behind the political direction I set so people can see the decisions we take and the reasons why.”
Andy Burnham will become the eighth Labour leader to become Prime Minister
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GB NEWS
Mr Burnham also accused Margaret Thatcher’s Conservative Party of the 1980s of having given away Britain’s control.
The new Labour leader said: “I want people to understand the thinking behind the political direction I set, so people can see the decisions we take and the reasons why. I am clear.
“Britain took a series of wrong turns in the 1980s. Political power was centralised, and economic power was privatised.
“The country surrendered control of the essentials, housing, water, energy, transport, and left people exposed to higher costs.
“In turn, led to the concentration of more wealth and power in the hands of fewer people and fewer places.
“Large parts of Britain were deindustrialised without the power to set new ambitions for themselves.”
Andy Burnham issued a warning to his party over Reform
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PA
Mr Burnham said he would tour Britain in August in an attempt to reconnect Labour with the public.
He said: “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. 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.”
Andy Burnham said he would tour Britain in August in an attempt to reconnect Labour with the public
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PA
Concluding his speech, Mr Burnham said Labour was here to “bring back hope.”
He said: “We can do it, we can be that party, the party that puts more power in people’s hands, drives good growth in every postcode and puts hope in every heart.
“That gets the country pulling together again and moves beyond the divisions of recent years. All people and all places, public and private sectors, in a new sense of unity and common cause.
“That’s my mission as your new leader, to bring back hope. I believe in all of you. I am confident we can do it. Thank you very much.”
After he finished his speech, Mr Burnham danced and led the audience clapping along to New Order’s 1987 hit True Faith.