Burnham confirmed as leader of UK’s governing Labour Party, headed for PM

Andy Burnham set to become UK prime minister but faces challenges including the cost of living crisis and two wars.Andy Burnham, a left-leaning former mayor of Manchester, has been elected leader of the United Kingdom’s governing Labour Party, putting him in line to become prime minister in the coming days.Burnham promised to restore hope to the country as he was confirmed as the party head on Friday. He will be appointed PM on Monday, replacing outgoing premier Keir Starmer, and has promised to unite the country and fight off the challenge from the populist and far-right Reform UK.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3Starmer bids MPs goodbye as British PM and pledges to support his successorlist 2 of 3Andy Burnham apology for Labour stance on Gaza: Is UK’s position shifting?list 3 of 3Andy Burnham in line to become British PM after securing party supportend of listAt a special party conference that confirmed his leadership, the PM-in-waiting said he was ready for power and would work to offer hope to people in “forgotten places everywhere”.“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,” he told the room full of Labour MPs and party officials, the AFP news agency reported. “And that’s what we’re going to do, everybody, we’re going to give them hope back.”Burnham also paid tribute to Starmer, whom he unseated as allies and critics alike accused the outgoing prime minister of a lack of leadership, just two years after securing a landslide general election victory.Support for Starmer dived amid numerous difficult events, including wars in the Middle East and Ukraine, and a relentless cost of living crisis. He also failed to stem the growing popularity of Reform and other far-right populists in the polls.All of those issues will be in Burnham’s in-tray as he becomes prime minister on Monday, but it was the challenge from Reform that sat at the top of his agenda as he spoke as the new Labour leader.