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Burnham pays tribute to Starmer
Burnham pays tribute to Keir Starmer.
I am ready to lead and to build on the foundation laid by one person more than any other.
Under Keir Starmer’s leadership, we went from our worst defeat to one of the best victories in our history.
Keir put Labour back in a position to change people’s lives and that is what we have been doing these last two years.
New rights for workers and for renters, NHS waiting lists falling for the first time in years – in fact, since I was health secretary, I think, so. Well done Wes [Streeting] – rail back under public control, Britain’s reputation rebuilt on the world stage and, as Lucy said just this week, the biggest rebalancing of the scales of justice this country has ever seen.
Today we thank you for his service to our party and to our country.
Key events
Burnham goes back to Labour’s history.
This labour movement, the trade union movement, was forged in the steelworks and ironworks of Sheffield, Scunthorpe, Port Talbot and Teesside, in the coalfields of south Wales, central Scotland, Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire, Yorkshire and Lancashire, in the mills across the Pennines, west and wast, in the shipyards on the Clyde and on the Tyne, and in the dockyards of Liverpool and here in London.
This sounds like a lift from Al Carn’s resignation speech in the Commons.
Burnham recalls addressing the 20th anniversay memorial event for the Hillsborough tragedy. He says it made him “confront the fact that this country does not work for working class communities like the city of my birth.”
He goes on:
In fact, it’s worse. It turned its back on them.
Political power was used viciously against them to protect vested interests …
And let us never forget, these are the very same places that built this labour movement, this trade union movement where we are today.
Burnham recalls working with Starmer on the initial version of the Hillsborough law.
Ten years ago, [Starmer] and I worked together, drawing up the original Hillsborough law in my office in the aftermath of the second Hillsborough inquest, and I drew on all of his legal expertise.
To be in parliament on Tuesday when Keir delivered on his promise to the Hillsborough families and all of the other campaigners who were part of the Hillsborough Law Now campaign, a promise to end the cover up culture in this country, to pass power from the authorities to ordinary people and to prevent anyone in future going through what the Hillsborough families did – it felt to me like life coming full circle.
Burnham pays tribute to Starmer
Burnham pays tribute to Keir Starmer.
I am ready to lead and to build on the foundation laid by one person more than any other.
Under Keir Starmer’s leadership, we went from our worst defeat to one of the best victories in our history.
Keir put Labour back in a position to change people’s lives and that is what we have been doing these last two years.
New rights for workers and for renters, NHS waiting lists falling for the first time in years – in fact, since I was health secretary, I think, so. Well done Wes [Streeting] – rail back under public control, Britain’s reputation rebuilt on the world stage and, as Lucy said just this week, the biggest rebalancing of the scales of justice this country has ever seen.
Today we thank you for his service to our party and to our country.
Burnham says he wants to give people ‘hope back’
Andy Burnham takes the state. “What a moment,” he says.
He says there is no need to offer his commiserations to Catherine West because she backed him too. (Her nomination was a Coyle initiative, not hers.)
He goes on:
All of them [Labour MPs who backed him] heard the call from the people of Makerfield on behalf of forgotten places everywhere, up and down this country, for a return of the labour they once knew.
And now we answer that call.
We will be that version of Labour again.
We are united today, as Holly said, as Lucy said and Shabana said. And thank you so much for your words.
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.
And that’s what we’re going to do, everybody. We’re going to give them hope back.
Shabana Mahmood confirms Burnham is the new Labour leader
Shabana Mahmood is up next.
She says the NEC set out the timetable for a contest. The returning officer has confirmed the requirements have been met.
“It’s hardly a nailbitter, folks,”
She says, despite the efforts of a lone MP (Neil Coyle – the MP who nominate Catherine West), there was only one eligible candidate.
She says:
One candidate received 379 nominations.
Having met the threshold of 20% of the parliamentary Labour party, they were eligible to proceed to the next stage.
One other candidate received one nomination and is not eligible to proceed.
Among the affiliated trade unions and socialist societies, the one eligible candidate received 23 nominations in total. This included nominations from all 11 trade unions, comprising well over 5% of the affiliated membership.
There being no other eligible nominated candidate, it is therefore my honour to declare that the duly elected leader of the Labour party is Andy Burnham.
Hollie Ridley, the outgoing general secretary, speaks next. Powell points out that she is the returning officer in this election (which Andy Burnham has won unopposed).
She says Shabana Mahmood will announce the new leader in her capacity as chair of the national executive committee.
But first Ridley thanks staff.
And she says she has to read out a declaration, as returning officer, saying the election has been fair and conducted in accordance with Labour rules.
Powell says she thinks Labour will be able to show it can change people’s lives for the better.
Powell also thanks Labour staff.
I strongly believe that we have come through this process stronger, more united and showing the very best version of ourselves to the country.
Powell refers to Starmer’s achievements.
Under his leadership, he did just that, lifting half a million children out of poverty, real wages rising and interest rates falling, restoring Britain’s standing around the world as a force for good and ending no fault evictions.
Rail back into public ownership and giving our mayors powers over buses, of which I’m sure we’ll hear more about.
Day one rights to sick pay and finally ending zero hours contracts.
And just this week, Hillsborough Law. What a moment that was.
And finally ending the hereditary principle in the House of Lords.
She also pays tribute to the way Starmer and his team “conducted themselves in recent weeks with dignity and with grace”.
Powell pays tribute to Keir Starmer.
His legacy will be of the guy who helped save the Labour party.
He took us from that historic defeat and just four years later took us to that historic election victory. And we thank him for that.
And that meant that we had a really strong Labour government that was able to deliver on our Labour values.
Powell jokes the tension is like the World Cup semi-final. Wouldn’t it have been nice if England won 379 to one.
She is referring to Burnham’s nominations.
Catherine West got the single nomination.
Lucy Powell, the deputy leader, is opening proceedings.
‘Well Conference,” she starts (which is very Labour).
She says it feels like the last day of term – non-uniform day.
“But not for you Andy,” she says.
Andy Burnham is coming in to loud applause. And some cheering.
The Labour event is starting.
It is not a very high-tech venue. Colleagues at the Labour special conference say they are in a basement with very poor wifi, and very poor mobile reception.
A handful of pro-Palestine protesters gathered outside ahead of a special conference to officially make Andy Burnham Labour leader, the Press Association reports. They held up a banner reading “stop arming Israel”.
Burnham says his premiership will be about ‘changing how Britain is governed’
Andy Burnham has been posting on social media.
He posted this a few minutes ago.
The next few days are about more than changing who governs Britain.
They’re about changing how Britain is governed.
And then he posted a link to a livestream of the special conference, saying:
This is our chance to put power back where it belongs.
Here is the scene at Labour’s special conference, where journalists are waiting for Andy Burnham. In their London Playbook briefing for Politico, Sam Francis and Megan McElroy report.
Playbook is told today’s crowd will be rather smaller than the one Labour once imagined, back when officials were considering hiring Burnham’s beloved Everton FC’s ground to announce his victory. The guest list has not been released, but one absence is confirmed: Keir Starmer. Downing Street says the prime minister will not make it back in time from Ukraine for the official handover.
