Andy Burnham used his first speech as prime minister to promise the "biggest changes in the last 40 years" to British politics, moments after removing three of Sir Keir Starmer's closest allies from cabinet. In a Downing Street address, Burnham pledged to unveil a 10-year "new plan for Britain" and said he would make announcements this week to "give people some breathing space now, some help with the cost of living".
Out went Rachel Reeves as chancellor, David Lammy as deputy prime minister and justice secretary, and Steve Reed as communities secretary. In their place, Burnham appointed Labour veteran John Healey as chancellor. Healey, who quit Starmer's government over a row on defence spending, said he and Burnham would "work in lockstep to meet the fiscal rules" and find ways to "make life more affordable for working people right across the UK".
“Burnham ousts Reeves, Lammy, Reed; appoints Healey as chancellor; pledges 10-year plan to 'bring back hope'.”
Ed Miliband moved from energy secretary to foreign secretary, replacing Yvette Cooper who becomes health secretary. Miliband called the appointment the "honour of my lifetime". Shabana Mahmood remains home secretary, while Louise Haigh takes on a sprawling brief as first secretary of state, chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and minister for the Cabinet Office. Angela Rayner, who stood down in September 2025 after admitting she underpaid stamp duty on her £800,000 flat in Hove, returns as housing secretary. Wes Streeting, the former health secretary once seen as a possible leadership challenger, becomes defence secretary.
Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch welcomed Burnham but said he had not "set out a clear plan for government". She accused him of being a "people pleaser" and criticised his promise to "undo Margaret Thatcher's policies".
The new prime minister's vow to honour the UK's defence commitments now falls to Healey, who must find the extra money he argued the last government failed to deliver. With a 10-year plan still months away, the question is what immediate relief Burnham can offer a country still feeling the pinch of the cost-of-living crisis.
