Burnham, 56, pledged to re-industrialise Britain and end sleeping rough on the streets after he met King Charles III at Buckingham Palace to become the head of government after Keir Starmer stepped down.

Accompanied by his wife Marie-France van Heel, Burnham arrived at Downing Street to resounding applause from supporters and acknowledged he was the country's seventh prime minister since the start of 2016.

Britain needed to show the world it could "regain stability", he said, as he vowed to create "a new political model" and "build a new economy".