New Delhi, July 21 -- LONDON - Andy Burnham chaired his first full cabinet meeting as Prime Minister on Tuesday, pledging cost-of-living measures within his opening week in office and declaring his government's intent to deliver the most significant reforms Britain has seen in four decades.

The session came on Burnham's first working day at Downing Street. He had met King Charles at Buckingham Palace on Monday and was formally asked to form a government, becoming Britain's seventh prime minister in a decade. He replaced Keir Starmer, whose Labour government won an outsized parliamentary majority in 2024 but lost public confidence faster than almost anyone had anticipated.

Burnham framed the cabinet meeting around immediate economic acti...