Andy Burnham has become the United Kingdom's seventh prime minister in ten years. He made his first pledge to end rough sleeping across the country. Burnham met the king at Buckingham Palace before heading to Downing Street.
He promised to address the cost of living and build more council homes. The new prime minister aims to create a new political economic model. Burnham appoints former Defence Secretary John Healey as UK finance minister Britain’s new prime minister, Andy Burnham, has appointed John Healey to replace Rachel Reeves as Chancellor of the Exchequer, Downing Street announced on Monday.
Healey served as defence secretary under Burnham’s predecessor, Keir Starmer, and resigned in June over a military spending row, saying that the prime minister was unable to commit to a high enough defence budget. Britain's former defence secretary, John Healey, leaves 11 Downing Street in London, on 20 July 2026 (Peter Nicholls/AFP) Additional £340m over three years allocated to get people off the streets ‘at the earliest opportunity’UK politics live – latest updatesAndy Burnham has promised to end rough sleeping in England in his first pledge as prime minister, allocating an additional £340m over three years as he seeks to replicate the homelessness schemes he rolled out in Greater Manchester.Speaking in front of Downing Street immediately after becoming prime minister, Burnham said he would try to get people off the streets “at the earliest opportunity”.
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