UK PM Burnham to outline 'serious' plan to ‘turn Britain around’

The 56-year-old former mayor of Manchester has re-energised the centre-left party since MPs parachuted him into Downing Street.

Updated on: Sep 29, 2026, 17:57:34 IST

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UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham will Tuesday outline his plan to "turn Britain around" by tackling the issues politicians "usually avoid", when he makes his first speech to his Labour party's annual gathering as leader.

The 56-year-old former mayor of Manchester has re-energised the centre-left party since MPs parachuted him into Downing Street in July after ending Keir Starmer's two-year premiership.

But he is under pressure to lay out how he intends to fulfil lofty and costly pledges, including the reindustrialisation of the country and free social care, when government finances are severely constrained.

The UK's seventh prime minister in a decade, will use his keynote address in Liverpool to detail "a more serious prospectus for Britain than people have been offered in a generation", Labour said in a press release.

"I accept people will not agree with every part of it, but I believe it can turn Britain around," the premier was to say, according to the pre-released remarks.

The Labour statement said Burnham would set out a "clear direction for the country" when he takes to the stage to address Labour MPs and grassroots activists at 2:00 pm (1300 GMT).

He will take on "the difficult issues that have been ignored for too long", the release added.

That includes social care, high levels of youth unemployment, and "the need for greater public control of energy, water and housing," it said.

He will also announce a new government body to invest in Britain's electricity grid, in an attempt to bring high energy costs down.

Since becoming prime minister on July 20, just weeks after returning to parliament following a nine-year absence, Burnham has sought to offer a more upbeat tone.

He has tried to give people some "breathing space" from cost-of-living pressures exacerbated by the wars in the Middle East and Ukraine, and his friendly demeanour has strengthened his public image.

But a new YouGov poll Tuesday showed Labour had slipped back behind rival Reform UK, with 24 percent of voting intentions to 25 percent for the hard-right, anti-immigration party.

‘Hope Again’

Labour's conference slogan is "Hope Again" and delegates are more upbeat than in the past two years when recriminations flew over domestic policy missteps by the more-centrist Starmer.

"We've got a leader now that we can all get behind," 77-year-old delegate Lynne Troughton told AFP.

But huge questions remain about what major reforms Burnham can achieve, with the UK economy, like many European countries, weighed down by insipid growth and soaring borrowing costs.

The prime minister must also find billions of pounds for the UK's defence to meet NATO commitments.

Labour said Burnham will "announce a raft of policies and commitments that will bring hope again to Britain".

But he will add that "hope comes from honesty and from saying the things politicians usually avoid," suggesting he might hint at some painful trade-offs.

Burnham, whose father died from Alzheimer's this month, wants to introduce free social care in England for people who need help living with illness or disabilities — although not until after the next general election, expected in 2029.

The premier is currently restricted by Labour's 2024 election-winning manifesto, under Starmer, which ruled out raising income tax and two other main taxes.

The Health Foundation think-tank estimates that a National Health Service-style social care system could end up costing almost £19 billion ($25 billion) a year.

Burnham is believed to be considering changing how pensions rise in the party's next manifesto — a bold move that right-wing parties would label an attack on the elderly.

Sharon Graham, leader of the powerful Unite union, told the BBC Tuesday that scrapping the so-called triple lock would be "morally wrong", highlighting the fight the prime minister would have on his hands.

"We can't carry on as we are," Burnham was due to tell the conference.

“Politics-as-usual has taken Britain backwards. More of the same isn't good enough and isn't going to get us where we need to be.”

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