The change of power in the UK

Andy Burnham starts over – lowers electricity prices for everyone

Andy Burnham starts over as British Prime Minister. During his first morning in office, he announces that VAT on electricity will be abolished from 1 October.

An average household will thus be able to keep 585 kronor more in their wallets each year, according to Sky News. The abolished VAT costs the treasury around 11 billion kronor a year, which is financed by Burnham simultaneously abolishing his predecessor Keir Starmer's criticized proposal to create digital ID cards.

The country's new Chancellor of the Exchequer John Healey says that the reduction will give families "a little more financial breathing room" for the winter.

Analysis: The shock election says a lot about Burnham's tactics

The election of the Chancellor of the Exchequer was the big surprise when Prime Minister Andy Burnham presented his new government in the UK, according to several analyses.

The pre-election talk was exclusively about Ed Miliband and Shabana Mahmood. Instead, the choice fell on the former defense secretary John Healey.

A “shock election” that reveals Burnham’s ambitions, writes David Maddox in an analysis in The Independent. The market disliked the left-wing politician Miliband and the right-wing Mahmood did not go down well with Labour’s left-wing factions. Then “the highly respected Healey” became a compromise candidate.

“A sign that Burnham is not interested in continuing the factional fighting that plagued the Starmer government,” writes Maddox.

The Telegraph’s Gordon Rayner concludes that Burnham himself wants to hold the purse strings. Instead of choosing someone who questions him for personal or ideological reasons, Burnham chose a man who is known to “align himself with the ranks and implement his wishes.”

Politico and The Guardian describe Healey as a stable, confident and experienced politician who knows all the party factions.