Who’s in Andy Burnham’s new Labour cabinet?
Andy Burnham is the new prime minister, after winning the backing of 379 of Labour’s 403 MPs as the best person to replace Sir Keir Starmer.
He has pledged to shift power away from Whitehall, introduce “greater public control” of the water and energy sectors and to build more council houses – while keeping Labour’s election pledge not to raise the main rates of income tax, VAT or National Insurance.
Born in Aintree in 1970, Burnham was inspired by the miners’ strike to join the Labour Party in his teens and first became an MP in 2001.
The former health secretary had twice failed to become party leader – losing to Ed Miliband in 2010 and Jeremy Corbyn in 2015 – and after leaving Parliament, served as Greater Manchester mayor. He returned as Makerfield MP in June and succeeded Sir Keir Starmer a month later.
A life-long Everton fan and talented sportsman, he was part of Labour’s Demon Eyes FC football team when Tony Blair was PM, and regularly featured in the Labour MPs vs Lobby journalists match while in Parliament.
