Andy Burnham has been confirmed as leader of the UK’s governing Labour Party, clearing the way for him to become prime minister, according to Al Jazeera. He was formally announced in the role at a special conference held in central London, where party members gathered for what the Guardian described as a ‘party coronation’.

In his first speech as leader, Burnham pledged he has the ‘courage to fix the big things that politics has neglected’. He promised to give back control to communities and to spread growth across the country, according to the Guardian. He also said his government would be ‘unashamedly Labour’.

Burnham criticised ‘decades of neoliberalism’ and told the Labour faithful he wanted to give people ‘hope back’, calling for party unity and a ‘new politics’. Nearing the end of his address, he paused and said: ‘I know what to do. I have a plan.’

The Guardian’s analysis of the speech was more measured, noting that even after half an hour of ‘dense rhetoric’ it remained ‘not especially clear’ what that plan is. The outlet characterised Burnham as a politician who ‘runs largely on vibes’ and said he showed his oratorical skill and a willingness to borrow from populism.

Burnham’s path back to frontline politics was not straightforward. According to the Guardian, when he first tried to return to the Commons by applying to be Labour’s candidate in the Gorton and Denton byelection, the party’s national executive committee blocked him, partly over concerns that Labour might struggle to hold the Greater Manchester mayoralty. When he later applied to stand in Makerfield, the NEC felt unable to refuse after poor results for Labour in the May elections.

Not everyone is convinced by the change at the top. Green party leader Zack Polanski, once relatively positive about the prospect of a Burnham leadership, told Sky News he worried Burnham could turn out to be Keir Starmer ‘with a different face’, particularly after reports that Burnham plans to appoint Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood as chancellor. Polanski said he would ‘be the first to applaud’ if Burnham brought in a wealth tax and built council homes, but questioned whether the new leader would deliver genuinely progressive change.

Burnham is set to become prime minister on Monday, following the formal party process. His speech has offered broad themes of community control, growth and hope, but observers say the detail of how he intends to deliver on those pledges remains to be seen.