Andy Burnham live: Labour draws level with Reform in fresh poll as new leader declares he is ‘ready to lead’

The Conservative chair has urged Andy Burnham to outline his plans for the government, saying it is “not too late” for him to answer MPs on Monday.

Labour was accused of “running scared” by the Tories after they were denied the chance to delay parliament’s recess so he could face scrutiny.

Kevin Hollinrake, the party chair, said: “Andy Burnham says he has a plan, so what is it?

“The leader of the Labour Party and soon-to-be prime minister should come to parliament and explain it.

“Instead, the government spared his blushes by cancelling the Conservatives’ vote that would have brought him before parliament on Monday.

“It’s not too late for Andy Burnham to do the right thing, make a statement, and answer questions from members of parliament on Monday about his ‘plan’.

“But the truth is that, whether it is Keir Starmer or Andy Burnham, the real problem is the high-tax, high-spend Labour MPs behind them.”

An optimistic Andy Burnham declared he was “ready to lead” after being crowned as the next leader of the Labour Party on Friday.

The next prime minister promised to return “the Labour Party they once knew” and said today was the most significant change in our politics in the last forty years.

But he also admitted this was his party’s “last chance for change” after his party hadn’t been good enough.

He laid out five party promises, vowing to build a new Labour culture, a new politics, be a leader for all of the UK, change Labour’s “political direction”, and decentralise Whitehall and Westminster.

Mr Burnham also promised to lead a party that is “distinctively Labour” and not out-Green the Greens or out-Reform Reform.

He revealed that he has not picked his chancellor or the rest of his cabinet, but said the reshuffle would “lift up a more united Britain”.

Mr Burnham paid tribute to Sir Keir Starmer for taking Labour from its worst defeat to “one of our best victories in our history”, and singled out Lord David Blunkett, Baroness Margaret Beckett and Lord Neil Kinnock as the people who got him to where he is today.

Insisting he is ready for government, the new Labour leader said that taking over as prime minister is a “proud moment”.

“It is one for which I am ready. I am ready, ready to lead and to build on the foundation laid by one person more than any other”, he said.

As he was crowned Labour leader, Andy Burnham vowed five things he would do to make Labour “better”.

Here are his party promises –

1. Build a new Labour culture

Mr Burnham vowed to “work relentlessly to build a culture of one Labour team”.

He said: “We won’t beat Britain’s right if we are consumed by infighting and pulling in different directions.”

2. Build a “new politics”.

“The country is crying out for it,” he said.

“We might enjoy the point scoring against others. The public don’t.

“How can politicians point fingers when living standards are falling, and politics as a whole isn’t working for them?”

3. Change Labour’s “political direction”

“My third change is our political direction. Yes, we will work with other parties where we can, but doing so from the clarity of knowing exactly where we stand.

“As your leader, I will set a direction that is distinctively Labour. We won’t try to out-Green the Greens, or out-Reform Reform.”

4. Be a leader for all of the UK

“I will be a leader for the north, the south, the east, and the west, for Scotland, Wales, and for Northern Ireland.

“I do the same for everywhere, because I see the same challenges everywhere I look.”

5. Take back the power from Westminster

Mr Burnham promised he would take back the power back from Westminster and Whitehall, “and give it to the place where you live”.

“We will take power back from Westminster and Whitehall, and give it to the place where you live – more power over life’s essentials, so you can make them work better and more affordable for people.”

Nigel Farage has demanded an immediate general election as he claimed Andy Burnham had no mandate to run the country.

The Reform UK leader said his party could produce a “historic upset” but Mr Farage claimed that if he failed to enter No 10 Britain risks “turning into a third world country” within 10 years.

He said that “nothing will get better under Andy Burnham”, who will become prime minister on Monday after being confirmed as the new leader of the Labour Party.

Mr Farage, who is fighting a by-election in Clacton after resigning as an MP in protest at parliamentary and media scrutiny of his finances, said: “The only certainty with Burnham is we’re going to get more of the same, but they’ll go further to the left than they already are.”

He said “nothing will get better under Andy Burnham” and “he says he wants to have the biggest change of direction in politics in 40 years, outside of 25,000 voters in Makerfield he has literally no mandate for this at all”.