Andy Burnham, the former mayor of Greater Manchester and new leader of the Labour Party, became Britain's seventh prime minister in a decade Monday after a meeting with King Charles III.
Burnham returned to Parliament in June by winning a risky special election and was sworn in as a member on July 12, hours after the unpopular Starmer announced his resignation to end a tenure of just two years in office.
Earlier, Starmer traveled the mile from Downing Street to Buckingham Palace to formally tell King Charles III that he is resigning and Charles accepted the resignation, Buckingham Palace said.
The 56-year-old Burnham then arrived at the palace, where Charles asked him to form a government. That is when he officially became prime minister, a moment known as "kissing hands."
He then arrived at Downing Street to resounding applause from supporters and acknowledged the challenges ahead of him.
Britain needed to show the world it could "regain stability," he said, vowing to offer "a new political model" and "build a new economy."
In foreign policy goals, he told broadcasters earlier his first calls would be to U.S. President Donald Trump and Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy, to whom he will offer reassurance that "I will be with him 100 percent."
In his brief speech outside Downing Street, the new Labour leader said he would "bring forward a new plan for Britain, a 10-year plan," without giving specifics.
Naming short-term goals, he promised to "give people some breathing space now, some help with the cost of living."
He also said his first instruction would be a pledge to "end rough sleeping", a measure he attempted to implement as a regional mayor in northern England, although it was not fully successful.
Other announcements included a pledge to reindustrialise Britain through public procurement and to build more public housing.
'Stronger, fairer'
Starmer departed Downing Street earlier, insisting his short time in office had made Britain a better place.
"I am confident that Britain is now stronger and fairer than it was two years ago," Starmer told reporters in his farewell speech outside Downing Street.
"I go with good grace, I go with a smile, and I go proud of everything that we have achieved," he added.
Burnham will face an in-tray overflowing with challenges with little time to make his mark with a nationwide election due in 2029.
In an interview with The Times published late Sunday, Burnham said he wanted to draw a line under a decade of political turmoil.
"What we've been doing hasn't been working. That's the way I see it," he said.
"I am going to try and do things in a different way."
The focus now turns to his senior cabinet appointments, with all eyes on who will replace Rachel Reeves as finance minister.
The former mayor of Greater Manchester, nicknamed the "King of the North," has been parachuted in by the Labour Party after Starmer resigned last month, with MPs viewing him as the party's best chance of reining in Nigel Farage's anti-immigration Reform UK party.