Andy Burnham has been formally installed as Prime Minister by the King after Sir Keir Starmer resigned, ending just over two years in Downing Street. Burnham used his first address as PM to promise he would "be better" than his predecessor and hinted at a shift leftwards for the government, though he offered few specifics on policy. His immediate task is to appoint a Cabinet without triggering a damaging split within the Labour Party.

Starmer used his farewell speech to insist he was "not a failure", declaring "my work is done" before travelling to the Palace to formally hand his resignation to the King. Burnham, the first openly Catholic prime minister, also spoke of his father, who has Alzheimer's and is unaware his son has become PM, as he vowed to overhaul social care. Meanwhile, prisons minister Lord Timpson, who oversaw Labour's contentious early-release scheme, has quit the government, adding to the pressure Burnham faces as he builds his top team.