Did Andy Burnham deliver the best Labour speech in decades?
Andy Burnham gave his first Labour Party conference speech as leader, one full of pledges and private pain, and it seems like he landed every single punch.
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"The Labour Party has a political star of a leader for the first time since Tony Blair."
That was Lewis Goodall's response to Andy Burnham's first ever Labour Party conference speech as the party leader, and the UK's Prime Minister.
"He is a true political teacher, someone who is able to paint a picture of their own politics and slowly, subtly convince you of that vision," Lewis adds.
So as you can probably tell, Burnham's address was well received.
Jon Sopel compared his hour-long speech in a Liverpool conference hall, where he entered the stage to the sounds of local band The Farm's 1990 hit, All Together Now, to some of the greatest Labour leader speeches in living memory, given by the likes of Neil Kinnock and Tony Blair.
"That speech is up there for the confidence that he showed, for the willingness to make an argument, and the way he reached out to the public," Jon says.
"What marks this out from those other speeches is the raw emotion of having lost his father earlier on this month."
Andy Burnham’s speech: Political promises and private pain
Burnham’s speech was a mix of emotion and pledges, as he promised to “break the mould” of British politics, saying that “more of the same isn’t good enough”.
The big announcement was the formation of a National Care Service, which Burnham said would be “fully funded” and paid for without borrowing.
"I am sorry my profession has let yours down for so long,” he said to those working in the social care industry.
"And I say the same to our wonderful NHS staff. We have let you down too."
He gave early details of his ten-year plan for a Labour government, including pledges on building more council homes, cracking down on rogue landlords and making it easier for young people to buy their first home. He promised more support for young people, to stand up to threats from Russia, Iran or “anywhere” else, as well as a commitment to a two-state solution for Israel and Palestine.
There will also be changes to triple-lock pensions, electoral reform and even to reopen the Brexit settlement, which Burnham said had done the country “more harm than good”.
Margaret Thatcher’s “ideological ban” on public ownership of water companies is to be scrapped, along with the loopholes that allow “excessive bonuses” to be paid to shareholders while customers are failed.
“These things are not everything but I hope you will see it as a sign of our intent to get your bills down,” he said.
“I would love to go quicker, but I have to be honest about what the country can afford.”
Burnham closed his speech on an emotional note, paying tribute to his father, who died in September 2026 from Alzheimer’s Disease, leaving the PM in tears – along with many members of his cabinet watching from the audience.
‘He might be able to navigate the troubles ahead’
Despite making these huge promises and commitments, met with rapturous applause and standing ovations, The News Agents say it was the personal element of Burnham, and his speech, that marked him as something special.
"The crafting of political speeches for party conferences are normally things which are written by a committee, but our understanding is that this was very much Andy Burnham writing alone in his room," Jon says.
"He's been wanting to deliver this speech for a very long time and just hasn't had the means to do it.
"There was a detailed diagnosis of what needed to change, and the way he framed and phrased it, I thought, showed a degree of political craft."
The Prime Minister, Jon adds, also showed that he is not afraid to argue, and to fight, for what he believes in.
"There was a political analysis there as well about the failure of the past decades, what has gone wrong in that time, and how the great slogan of Brexit was about taking back control, but actually successive politicians have given away control," he says.
"He said he knows people are going to disagree with him, but he's going to fight for this because he thinks it's right.
"That shows a willingness to go beyond what his focus groups told him, and to do what he thinks is fundamental to reshape British society."
Jon says Burnham seems all too aware he may lose some of his arguments, but is willing to expend "political capital" to try to make these things happen.
The most "arresting" moment of Burnham's speech, Lewis believes, was when he snatched the right-wing's favourite slogan, "taking back control" and turned it back on them.
"The British right talk about taking back control," Burnham told the cheering Liverpool audience.
"Never let them forget, they are the ones who gave it away in the first place."
His debut conference speech was a "vindication" for the Labour Party having moved to replace Keir Starmer earlier this year, Lewis adds. "There is no world in which Keir Starmer, whatever his virtues and merits, would have been able – in analysis, conception, or delivery – to give a political speech like that," Lewis adds.
"There are some big clouds coming over the horizon, there are big problems to come.
"But guess what? Burnham might be able to navigate that."