Burnham says his first instruction as PM will be to end rough sleeping

Burnham talked about some of his ambitions.

double quotation markWe will help more young people into work by changing the education system and giving them more support, more mental health support, and we will build more council homes.

That is the fair and sustainable way to bring the welfare bill down to meet our fiscal rules and to honour our commitments on defence to our international partners.

We will help people to live well, building a more preventative state, investing in people’s success rather than paying for failure.

And then he made a specific announcement.

double quotation markAnd that work starts now.

I will soon go through that door behind me and issue my first instruction – to end rough sleeping in our country.

It’s about putting the right values and the right standards at the heart of government.

Andy Burnham speaking outside Downing Street. Photograph: Stefan Rousseau/PA

Key events

One of those who hugged Andy Burnham on the way in to No 10 was Sarah Taylor, one of his old constituents in Leigh.

Her then four-year old daughter was abducted by her partner and taken to Libya in 2007 and Burnham spent two years trying to get her back.

His efforts included flying to Tripoli and arranging a meeting between the then-prime minister Gordon Brown and Colonel Gaddafi.

Tim Heatley, chief executive of one of the biggest property developers in Greater Manchester, was also spotted in the crowd of supporters. He chairs the Greater Manchester mayor’s charity, which works to end rough sleeping.

It is that charity to which Burnham has been donating 15% of his salary since becoming mayor in 2017. He has said he will continue that tradition on his higher prime minister’s salary, splitting the money between homelessness charities and charities in his Makerfield constituency.

Liverpool city region mayor Steve Rotheram said he was “unbelievably proud” after friend Andy Burnham’s first speech as prime minister.

Speaking as he left Downing Street with his family, Rotheram, who co-authored Burnham’s book Head North, said he had not held any discussions with the new premier regarding his No 10 North hub.

Rotheram told the Press Association:

double quotation markHe’s been like a little brother to me, it’s a brilliant moment.

Britain's newly appointed Prime Minister Andy Burnham greets Liverpool City Region Mayor Steve Rotheram, who's holding his grandson, as he arrives at 10 Downing Street on his first day in office, in London, Britain, July 20, 2026. Photograph: Temilade Adelaja/Reuters

He added:

double quotation markThere’s some great bits [of policy]. I think when you see what the plan is, then most people will go, ‘I see that. So that’s why you want to do it a different way’.

It’s taken the learning from being a metro mayor and then putting that into practice. That’s the idea.

Meanwhile, Everton Football Club has congratulated Andy Burnham on becoming prime minister.

Posting on X, alongside a photo of Burnham and manager David Moyes from his previous stint in charge, the club said:

double quotation markA Toffee at No.10.

Congratulations to Andy Burnham on becoming the UK’s Prime Minister. A lifelong Evertonian, long-time Hillsborough Law campaigner, regular SFoodbanks donor and @EITC fundraiser.

Wishing you nothing but the best in your new role, @andyburnham.

And reader, I can personally vouch for Burnham’s devotion to the Toffees, having bumped into him in a Liverpool pub on an away day a few years ago. We chatted about the fortunes of both Everton and my club, Brentford, and fair play, he knew his stuff.

But if I remember correctly, Burnham predicted a home win that afternoon. Brentford won 3-2.

Scotland’s first minister John Swinney has congratulated Andy Burnham as he pushed for action on the cost of living.

In a statement released in the hours after Burnham took office, Swinney said the country “faces a number of serious challenges at this moment” and he looks forward to “constructive talks” with the prime minister.

“I congratulate Andy Burnham on his appointment as prime minister. This is a significant moment for the United Kingdom, and I commit to working constructively with him in order to improve the lives of people in Scotland,” he said.

“The UK faces a number of serious challenges at this moment, and Andy Burnham is correct when he says that Westminster is not working for the vast majority of people.

“Therefore, taking action on the cost of living must be an absolute priority for the new prime minister, and supporting people through sustained economic pressures will be key to restoring confidence and stability after a period of political turbulence.”

My colleague Alexandra Topping was in Downing Street earlier today:

A reminder of how brutal politics can be outside Downing Street this morning, as we witnessed the transfer of power from Keir Starmer to Andy Burnham.

Burnham took his time to greet supporters, there were hugs for everyone, before he stood in front of the microphones to set out - in the broadest terms - his political vision.

I managed to escape from the lobby press pen to find a (very small) spot next to the core group of photographers and found myself directly in front of Burnham.

Genuinely - it looked like he was enjoying himself.

New British Prime Minister Andy Burnham delivers a speech outside 10 Downing Street in London, Britain, 20 July 2026. Photograph: Andy Rain/EPA

John Bird, the crossbench peer and founder of the Big Issue, said he was “encouraged” by the new prime minister’s comments over ending rough sleeping.

In a statement, Lord Bird said:

double quotation markAndy Burnham’s bold first pledge as prime minister is to end rough sleeping.

This is a prime minister with his priorities straight.

I’m also encouraged to hear his intention to build a more preventative state. This will be crucial if he truly wants to eradicate rough sleeping for good.

Within minutes of Andy Burnham entering No 10, the government has announced an additional £340m to tackle rough sleeping across Britain.

Burnham said in his address on the steps of Downing Street that his first instruction to staff would be to end rough sleeping but I’m not sure anyone expected to see detail on this quite so soon.

The £340m is described by the government as “new funding” from uncommitted budgets in the ministry of housing, communities and local government.

A government spokesperson says the fund is expected to support at least 3,000 people who are currently sleeping rough long-term, over a five-year period, and will include “beginning the acquisition of suitable homes”.

It is reminiscent of Burnham’s first term as Greater Manchester mayor, when virtually his first act in May 2017 was to contact the homelessness charity Crisis to help set up the donation of 15% of his salary.

His flagship promise was to end rough sleeping in Greater Manchester by 2020 and he almost halved it. By last year, however, Britain’s housing crisis sent homelessness to record levels and the number of people on the city’s streets had crept back up. Last year the figure was nearly half that when Burnham took office.

Official figures show the number of people sleeping on the streets in England rose to a record 4,793 last summer, although that is believed to be an underestimate.

The think-tank IPPR North, whose director Zoë Billingham has been advising Burnham in recent weeks while on sabbatical, warned last week that homelessness levels would rise by 25% – an additional 50,000 people – within four years without radical action.

Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy is the latest leader to congratulate Andy Burnham on his appointment as the new British prime minister.

In a post on X, he said:

double quotation markCongratulations to Andy Burnham @andyburnham on taking office as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. We wish the Prime Minister and the British people every success in addressing the challenges of today.

Britain has always been one of the global leaders. We are ready to work together in all possible formats. We highly appreciate the UK’s political, defense, and values-based support.

The foundation of our bilateral relationship is stronger than ever, and we will continue to make each other stronger. I’m looking forward to our conversation later today. Thank you!

The former prime minister Keir Starmer visited Kyiv and met with Zelenskyy on Thursday.

He used his final foreign trip as premier to reassure Ukraine of Britain’s continued support, as Zelenskyy looks to forge a relationship with his fifth UK prime minister since Russia invaded in February 2022.

The new prime minister, Andy Burnham, has given his first speech after accepting the king’s invitation to form a government.

In his speech, he pledged to bring in a 10-year plan for Britain as well as planning to end rough sleeping, “build a new economy” and address the cost of living crisis.

Andy Burnham says cost of living plan starts tomorrow in first speech as UK PM - video

More congratulations are coming in from key European capitals.

Italy’s Giorgia Meloni said the UK and Italy were “bound by a deep friendship and collaboration that over the years has grown only stronger.”

“I am certain that we will continue down this path, strengthening our strategic partnership in the interest of our nations and our citizens,” she says.

Dutch PM Rob Jetten stressed the UK is “an important partner for the Netherlands,” and the pair will “work closely in areas like trade, energy transition, defence and support for Ukraine.”

Sweden’s Ulf Kristersson struck a similar tone, as did Lithuania’s Gitanas Nausėda.

Several leaders also paid tribute to Keir Starmer, thanking him for their work together, including Denmark’s Mette Frederiksen.

Burnham's first speech as PM - snap verdict

That was a short speech, and in many respects it was just an edited highlights version of the much longer and more substantial speech that Andy Burnham gave on Friday when he was elected Labour leader. But it contained two striking features.

First, there was a policy announcement, and it was a quite a brave one; ending rough sleeping. (See 1.02pm.)

Why is it brave? Because Burnham set the same target as mayor of Greater Manchester, and he did not achieve it. In fact, as the Mill in Manchester reported recently, rough sleeping in the city has been going up for the past four years. Burnham visited a homelessness centre early this morning and recorded a pooled TV interview which has just been played on Sky News. Asked why he was promising to end rough sleeping nationally when he could not do that in his own city, Burnham (who gave 15% of his salary as mayor to a fund to tackle homelessness) said that in Manchester numbers started going up again, after falling at first, partly because of events out of his control. He went on:

double quotation markWe ran a scheme called a bed every night. And we funded it through various different ways.

But we’d be the only place that was doing it. You won’t be able to get the numbers down if you’re the only place and people [from other cities] are coming to Manchester.

So it taught me that the only way is to do this together. Everybody pulling in the same direction, as we did in the pandemic because we did bring people inside in the pandemic.

Many politicians, confronted with a policy failure, move on to something else; on this, Burnham is doubling down.

Burnham has also discovered his inner Jeremy Corbyn. After he stepped down as Labour leader, Corbyn revealed that if he had won the 2017 election, he too would have ordered an end to rough sleeping on day one. This is an announcement by Burnham that will cheer idealists, progressives and Labour leftwingers in particular. And this may be helpful if those same people end up learning later today Shabana Mahmood will be chancellor.

The second striking feature was the tone. Burnham has just become PM. But he started not by celebrating his success, but with an admission of failure – the failure of his generation of politicians. (See 12.53pm.) It was not a gloomy speech, but it was one with a strong streak of humility and realism. That is probably what the nation wants, or at least needs.

That is all from me for today. Tom Ambrose is taking over now.