Words by Emily Youlton, Senior Politics Producer
Andy Burnham has become the UK’s seventh British prime minister in ten years after meeting the King on Monday morning.
Keir Starmer, who stood down as party leader in June, gave his official resignation to the King on Monday and, following a short speech in Downing Street, waved goodbye to No 10.
In his final PMQs, Starmer defended his record in government, saying he was “proud to leave this country in a better shape than I found it”.
But Starmer’s downfall was precipitated by his MPs’ frustration at what they saw as the slow pace of change under his leadership.
The pressure is now on Burnham from all sides of the Labour Party to deliver on a wide range of policies, to unlock UK growth and to restore stability.
Burnham has made known his bold plans for devolution, including a No 10 of the North, and has promised “good growth in every postcode”.
But for all his ambition in that area, there are plenty of other issues that require Burnham’s attention.
Here’s a look at Burnham’s bulging in-tray – from foreign policy and immigration to housing and welfare.
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Welfare
The government’s failure to tackle the country’s growing benefits bill was considered one of the outgoing prime minister’s most damaging missteps.
Starmer struggled with a rebellion from his own party against a benefits system overhaul because of concerns over how the changes would affect people with disabilities.
The policy, like several others, ended in a U-turn.
It now falls to Burnham and his chancellor to balance the books, while keeping Labour MPs on side. Burnham will be in office when the final recommendations of the Timms review into disability benefits are published. The interim report claimed that personal independence payment (Pip) “is no longer fit for purpose”.
The total spend for 2025-2026 forecast is £322.6 billion, more than 23% of the government’s total spend, with more than half – around £177.7 billion this year – spent on pensioners.
Burnham has already confirmed that he will not scrap the triple lock on state pensions, which raises the pension rate each year by the highest rate of either inflation, average wage growth, or 2.5%.
Other benefit challenges include an increasing number of people claiming sickness benefits, as well as record youth unemployment.
The recent Milburn report found that more than one million young people (16-24 year olds) are currently not in education, employment or training (Neet).
Burnham has spoken extensively about wanting to improve technical education and allow young people to make the choice that works well for them.
Migration
Migration has been a thorny issue thrust to the forefront of voter concerns in recent years.
UK net migration hit its lowest point since 2012 (excluding the pandemic) under Starmer’s leadership, dropping to 171,000 in the year to December 2025. Home Office figures show a 12% decrease in those claiming asylum, from April 2025 to March 2026.
During his by-election campaign, Burnham said that net migration needs to “fall further” than it has.
On Monday, Burnham voted in favour of Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood’s asylum reforms that aim to cut the number of small boat crossings and instead direct people to alternative “safe and legal routes”.
These reforms are controversial among the left of the Labour Party, especially the changes to indefinite leave to remain (ILR).
Mahmood plans to increase the time it takes for people to be eligible for ILR from five years to ten, alongside other ideas like asylum seekers paying up to £10,000 towards the cost of their government support.
Balancing migration issues may be a difficult balance for Burnham, who is seen as a soft-left politician.
Defence
With the Ukraine war raging on and continued unrest in the Middle East, defence is an area Burnham will need to be across very quickly.
Despite steadfast support for Ukraine, Starmer’s record on defence is a major flashpoint towards the end of his premiership when defence secretary John Healey resigned shortly before Starmer announced the defence investment plan (Dip), accusing the outgoing prime minister of making the country “less safe”.
New defence secretary Dan Jarvis received £1.5 billion in additional funding, totalling £15 billion, but the plan leaves a £4.7 billion black hole, where it is unclear how the money will be raised.
Burnham has pledged to focus investment on British defence firms and reduce foreign dependency, as part of the commitment in the Dip to increase defence spending to 3.5% of gross domestic product (GDP) by 2035.
He has said that Britain’s support for Ukraine “will not waver,” and he has backed further sanctions against Israeli figures involved in settler violence.
Tax
When Labour was elected in 2024, the party promised not to raise income tax, VAT or national insurance contributions for individuals. Burnham has said he plans to stick to that.
It is likely a budget will be set out by Burnham’s chancellor in October, providing a plan for how he will fund his policies and ideas for change and he has hinted there is “some room” for movement on taxes.
Burnham has refused to rule out a wealth tax and said “we need a greater sense of fairness,” but also said he won’t “demonise one group or create a new way of dividing people”.
He has also pledged to overhaul business rates, including higher taxes on out-of-town warehouses for online giants such as Amazon, to help pay for cuts to rates for hospitality businesses.
Building relationships with foreign leaders, including Trump
The outgoing PM was very comfortable on the world stage.
In his final week, French President Emmanuel Macron awarded him with the Légion d’honneur, the first UK prime minister to receive the honour, given for his work with France on the security of Europe.
Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy followed suit and presented Starmer with the Order of Freedom, which is the highest award for a foreign person in Ukraine during Starmer’s final visit to the country on Thursday.
Burnham has yet to be tested abroad, and his policy focus has so far focused on the domestic issues in the UK.
Although Burnham has said he will spend less time on the international stage than his predecessor, Starmer warned in an interview with the BBC that foreign and domestic affairs are “one and the same thing” and said he did not think it was possible to spend less time on diplomacy.
President Trump has already weighed in on Burnham, calling him “extremely liberal” and thought he “probably won’t open up the North Sea” for oil exploration, signalling a potential rocky relationship between the pair before it’s even begun.
The new PM has previously criticised Trump and, during his by-election campaign, said US politics were “poisonous”.
The question will now be which world leader is Burnham likely to call first, a custom of new leaders getting in touch with allies at the start of their premiership.
A new Cabinet
The rumour mill in Westminster has been working overtime since Burnham returned as an MP over who he will select for his Cabinet.
In his speech on Friday, Burnham said: ” I haven’t made any decisions yet about who will be in that top team. But I will soon. And when I have, you will see it reflects all parts of our party”.
The leading question is who will replace Rachel Reeves as Chancellor. The current favourite for the job is Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood.
Mahmood is in the blue Labour faction, leaning more to the right of the party.
Ed Miliband was also slated as a potential candidate for the job, but is reportedly considered too disliked by too many powerful interests, from trade union leaders to business leaders, to investors and the right-wing media. The i Paper reported he is likely to be made foreign secretary.
There are several former members of the Cabinet expected to return, including John Healey, who is also tipped for foreign secretary, with Wes Streeting, Angela Rayner and Lucy Powell all expected to be part of Burnham’s top team.
Several key members of Burnham’s campaign team are expected to join the Cabinet, with a return for Transport Secretary Louise Haigh and first-time jobs for Anneliese Midgley and Sally Jamieson.
Burnham will also need to tackle issues on the environment, tackling the housing crisis, social care reforms, net zero targets, reducing jury trials, and transport systems across the country.
It is unlikely to be a peaceful summer for the MP for Makerfield.