Just over two months after becoming prime minister, Andy Burnham is delivering his first speech at the Labour conference as the party’s leader.

The start of the former Manchester mayor’s premiership has been marked by a flurry of policy announcements, as he looks to show a clear departure from his predecessor.

Political polling would suggest he has been successful in turning the Labour Party’s dire popularity around, recently overtaking Reform UK in voting intention for the first time since March 2025 – but just hours before his speech, Reform leapfrogged Labour to lead once again.

Mr Burnham has maintained a focus on the cost of living in his opening months, alongside a push for devolution and public control of utilities.

More details of his plan for Britain came in his speech on Tuesday, where he set out a “prospectus” to take the country forward.

Speaking in Liverpool, the prime minister said: “We can’t carry on as we are. Politics-as-usual has taken Britain backwards. More of the same isn’t good enough and isn’t going to get us where we need to be.”

It marks a defining moment of his premiership, soon to be followed by an equally significant Budget set to be delivered by chancellor John Healey at the end of the month.

Here are the key takeaways from Mr Burnham’s speech and his previously announced policies:

The triple lock will be “adjusted” from 2030, Mr Burnham announced, following a new model that will keep it locked to earnings and inflation.

The state pension will also remain at a similar proportion to wages under the changes, following a ‘smoothed earnings link model’ put forward by many economists in recent years.

This will save around £650m in 2029/30, under a model put forward by the Resolution Foundation this year.

Following on from the preceding speech by housing secretary Angela Rayner, the prime minister used the first part of his speech to focus on housing issues.

Mr Burnham reiterated his pledge to deliver a council house building revolution, and to reform the Right to Buy policy so that new council homes cannot be bought as easily.

He added that councils will be handed powers to take control of empty homes and bring them back into public ownership.

“Go to almost any town across Britain, and you will see plenty of empty homes,” he said. “We will give councils the power to take control of them and bring them back into the public housing stock.”

He also reiterated the newly-announced ‘Your First Home’ scheme which give savers access to a mortgage with just a 2.5 per cent deposit. A loan with 20 per cent of the property’s value will also be available to help pay for the purchase as part of the scheme.

Councils will also be given the power to take over poor quality homes if landlords refuse to improve them, the PM announced.

A new Bill to unlock public ownership of water companies was announced by the prime minister, set to be unveiled by environment secretary Angela Eagle.

Mr Burnham said: “Water is a symbol of what has gone wrong with Britain – a service where the shareholders never lose and the public never win, from which some have syphoned out easy money while the public picked up the bill for the sewage in our seas. It stinks.”

“The centrepiece of that Bill will be this: the repeal of Margaret Thatcher’s ideological ban on public ownership of water companies, he added.

“Where private companies serve the public interest, we will support them but the consequences will be clear for those who do not, including taking back control or ownership.”

In his speech, Mr Burnham said a new publicly-owned Great British Grid would drive down energy costs.

This will be able to compete with privately owned companies such as National Grid, which Mr Burnham said will “it will increase competition [and] drive down costs and speed up connections.”

It follows his early move to scrap VAT on household electricity bills from October, expected to cut £45 from the average household’s energy bills.

The prime minister detailed more about his ambition for everyone to be able to access a free social care service in his speech, building on proposals he first put forward as Labour’s health minister in 2009.

He has promised sweeping reform of the social care system ahead of this, vowing upon taking office to empower the workforce by integrating staff with the NHS to boost pay and security.

The prime minister also announced he would expedite Baroness Louise Casey’s commission into social care, bringing its deadline forward from 2028 to next year.

The £2 bus fare cap has been reinstated, Mr Burnham announced early into his premiership, reversing the decision to increase it by his predecessor Sir Keir Starmer.

Reinstating this maximum fare will partly be funded by switching grants for international climate projects to repayable loans instead.

Mr Burnham used his inaugural speech as PM to say that his “first instruction” will be to “end rough sleeping in our country”.

In further details set out by Number 10, £340 million in funding was announced to go towards acquiring suitable homes, identifying those most in need and starting to provide housing and support “without delay”.

The funding will provide 1,200 homes and intensive support for at least 3,000 long-term rough sleepers over a five-year period, the government said.

One of Mr Burnham’s flagship proposals was the creation of an outpost of Downing Street based in Manchester, dubbed “No 10 in the North”.

This is currently based at Heron House, an existing government building partially occupied by GCHQ, where Mr Burnham is understood to be based one day a week.

Business rates for pubs, clubs and music venues in England will be cut by 20 per cent from April, saving the typical pub an estimated £1,100, according to the government.

Ministers say the £100m package will be fully funded. This will be partly through a review of reliefs for businesses that “do not make a positive contribution to local communities”, such as vape shops.

Metro mayors across England will be granted new powers to retain a portion of locally raised tax revenue under fresh devolution plans.

Mr Burnham confirmed the policy during a visit to Leeds, stating that regions need “true financial autonomy, not just hand-outs from Westminster”.

The policy will allow more mayors to keep a portion of business rates raised in their area from spring, and eventually a percentage of income tax raised locally.

Mr Burnham has also announced a major shake-up to the education system, designed to rebalance its focus away from university and towards technical qualifications.

Under the plans, students will have the option to combine core academic subjects like English, maths and science with technical education linked to jobs available in their area.

This route will be available from age 14, in Year 10. Students taking this pathway will also spend time with employers to gain work experience.

On illegal migration, Mr Burnham has pledged the government will be “relentless” in lowering the number of people arriving in the UK on small boats. Home secretary Shabana Mahmood retained her post in the new government, indicating an intention to continue with the direction of the previous administration in this area.

On defence, Mr Burnham has announced a £8.4bn investment in the UK’s nuclear deterrent in the fourth phase of the UK’s Dreadnought Class submarine programme.

The prime minister has also said the UK needs to get “serious” about welfare spending. More details on his plans are set to be revealed later this year, but a spokesperson for Mr Burnham has said they will not take the form of “crude cuts”.