UK PM Burnham seeks 'hope again' at Labour Party conference

British Prime Minister Andy Burnham , only in the role for a few months after replacing Keir Starmer , has told the Labour Party conference in his native Liverpool that his government wants to restore hope and end "politics as usual."

But the UK 's seventh prime minister in a decade is trying to balance a series of evidently conflicting fiscal goals: bolstering economic growth, reducing cost-of-living pressures, safeguarding pensions and making care costs more affordable, upgrading creaking infrastructure and significantly boosting military spending.

That's all while battling a populist challenge from Reform UK and Restore Britain on the right and the Green Party on the left. This led Labour to severe local and regional election defeats in May and ultimately spelt his predecessor Starmer's demise .

What did Burnham say in his conference speech?

Burnham, a Liverpool lad who was mayor of Manchester prior to moving to take up Britain's top political job, repeated his most common mantra since coming to power, namely that "more of the same" will not solve the various issues facing the UK.

"We can't carry on as we are. Politics as usual has taken Britain backwards," Burnham said. "More of the same isn't good enough and isn't going to get us where we need to be."

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