Andy Burnham carried out a brutal purge of Keir Starmer’s allies yesterday as he signalled he will lead the most Left-wing government since the 1970s.

The new Prime Minister showed a glint of steel as he sacked Rachel Reeves, David Lammy, Lord Hermer and a string of his predecessor’s closest Cabinet supporters within hours of taking office.

In a move that stunned Westminster, he installed former defence secretary John Healey as Chancellor, confounding weeks of speculation that the job would go to Ed Miliband or Shabana Mahmood.

Angela Rayner was reappointed Housing Secretary – ten months after she was forced out over an unpaid stamp duty bill.

Today Mr Burnham will try to head off calls for a general election by unveiling immediate plans to ease the cost of living. 

He said cuts to energy bills, a £2 cap on bus fares and even rent controls were being looked at as he tries to make an immediate impact with a sceptical public after seizing power by stealth.

He said any new measures would be fully funded, raising fears he will hike taxes on the middle classes.

Mr Burnham boasted he would ‘bring back hope’ and introduce the ‘biggest changes in the last 40 years – a new political model and a new economic model’.

Andy Burnham carried out a brutal purge of Keir Starmer’s allies yesterday as he signalled he will lead the most Left-wing government since the 1970s

Ed Miliband, who played a key role in the coup against Sir Keir, was rewarded with promotion to Foreign Secretary

The 1970s were marked by industrial strife, soaring inflation, and sky-high taxes, culminating in the last chancellor called Healey being forced to ask the International Monetary Fund for a bailout. 

Writing in today’s Daily Mail, Kemi Badenoch accused Labour of plunging Britain into a ‘reckless experiment’ which would ‘inevitably run aground’. She urged Mr Burnham to cut welfare instead of imposing ‘more Labour tax hikes’.

Nigel Farage called for an immediate election. Also writing in this newspaper, he said the way Mr Burnham had ‘crowbarred his way into No 10’ was ‘deeply troubling’.

Mr Miliband, who played a key role in the coup against Sir Keir, was rewarded with promotion to Foreign Secretary. 

Former health secretary Wes Streeting was made Defence Secretary, while Lisa Nandy retained her job as Culture Secretary.

Yvette Cooper was demoted to Health Secretary despite pleading to stay on to provide continuity at the Foreign Office, which has now churned through ten foreign secretaries in as many years.

Ms Mahmood remains as Home Secretary after watering down plans to make migrants wait longer to get the right to live in the UK.

Former transport secretary Louise Haigh was appointed to the powerful role of Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster just 18 months after being forced to quit the Cabinet over a fraud conviction.

Former transport secretary Louise Haigh was appointed to the powerful role of Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster just 18 months after being forced to quit the Cabinet over a fraud conviction

Andy Burnham was officially installed as PM by the King yesterday after Keir Starmer bowed out 

On a dramatic day:

• Mr Burnham renewed his call to take Britain back to the 1970s, saying the country had taken ‘wrong turns’ under Margaret Thatcher that had to be reversed;
• The new PM said he was ready to take unpopular decisions to fund a major shake-up of social care, after revealing his father is suffering dementia and does not even know his son is in No 10;
• The financial markets were spooked after Mr Burnham revealed he was seeking to exploit ‘flexibility’ in Labour’s fiscal rules to enable a new borrowing binge;
• Defence sources welcomed the appointment of Mr Healey, who quit over the Government’s refusal to raise defence spending to 3 per cent of GDP by 2030;
• Sir Keir insisted his turbulent premiership had not been a failure;
• Mr Burnham said his first act in government would be to end rough sleeping, despite failing to deliver on a similar commitment in Manchester;
• The PM opened the door to reviving the 50p top tax rate, despite it being ruled out in Labour’s manifesto;
• Mr Burnham, who once called for Donald Trump to be banned from Manchester, invited him to visit the city for next year’s G20 summit as the two leaders spoke for the first time.

Mr Burnham becomes the seventh prime minister in a turbulent political decade. The new PM, who was part of the coup against Sir Keir, said it was time for his generation of politicians to ‘raise our game’ and ‘show the world that we can regain our stability again’.

When he became Labour leader on Friday, he insisted that he had a plan for the country. Yesterday he admitted that it remained a work in progress, saying his ten-year vision will be published in the autumn.

Mr Burnham ruled out holding a general election, despite having the weakest mandate of any modern PM.

He did not stand on Labour’s election-winning manifesto, he faced no leadership contest and the 25,000 voters who backed him in Makerfield represent just 0.05 per cent of the electorate. But the new premier insisted he has ‘the legitimacy to lead’.

Ed Miliband and Shabana Mahmood – who had been widely regarded as rivals for the key role of Chancellor – walked into No10 arm-in-arm 

Angela Rayner is pictured leaving Downing Street after being reappointed as Housing, Communities and Local Government Secretary

Mr Burnham repeatedly called for an election when the Conservatives changed leader between elections. 

But yesterday he said: ‘We’re in a parliamentary democracy and, as we’ve seen through time, if somebody can command the majority of the MPs in the House of Commons, obviously they then have the legitimacy to lead things forward.’

In a short speech in Downing Street, he pledged to ‘bring back hope’, but gave few details. He made no mention of immigration, crime or foreign affairs.

Mr Miliband is likely to prove a controversial choice as Foreign Secretary.

The Trump administration is reported to have warned that appointing him to the top diplomatic role would be ‘a mistake’.