Just before 1pm yesterday, the King of the North died and a Prime Minister forged in the North was born.

That was the moment Andy Burnham addressed the phalanx of assembled media in Downing Street – and a global audience of millions – to give his first speech as the UK’s latest PM.

Burnham promised to do politics differently and he started as he means to go on.

The lectern was gone. There were no notes or autocues.

There was something endearing about the fact that Burnham, who was known for his occasional dodgy timekeeping as Greater Manchester Mayor, even started the most important speech of his life slightly late.

Downing Street may have seen plenty of speeches from newly appointed PMs in recent years, but it hadn’t seen anything like Brand Burnham in full swing.

His ‘bezzie mate’ Steve Rotheram, the Mayor of the Liverpool City Region, was there proudly clutching his new grandchild.

He shared a tender embrace with his mother, Eileen, and there was even an appearance from Everton icon Peter Reid.

Keir Starmer’s wooden and monotone delivery was replaced by a new-look Prime Minister who stared straight into the camera and outlined his vision for the country.

His speech lasted less than six minutes, but it felt as though every word counted and conveyed a powerful message.

He vowed to provide ‘breathing space’ for households struggling with the cost of living crisis – evidenced by Tuesday’s announcement that he would remove VAT from domestic electricity bills in October.

Wearing an unfamiliar suit, Burnham said he wanted to bring about the ‘biggest changes in the last 40 years’ to British politics and promised to end rough sleeping, which was one of his priorities in Greater Manchester.

He spoke of delivering a 10-year plan for Britain that would lay out a path to where he believes ‘we want Britain to be’.

Burnham didn’t mention Reform or its leader, Nigel Farage. He didn’t need to. This was a speech of hope over hate.

In an eventful first day in office, he announced his Cabinet – and sprang a big surprise when he named John Healey as his Chancellor.

Northern Spin wasn’t the only podcast that had to rip up its running order because Burnham works to his own timetable, not that of the media.

Burnham has identified his priorities, starting with eradicating Labour’s ‘insidious briefing culture’.

He spoke about ‘fixing the big things that politics has neglected’ and has vowed to be pro-business, just as he was in Greater Manchester.

The Makerfield MP is set to force failing utility companies into public ownership and devolve more power away from Westminster and Whitehall.

Burnham said on Friday we wanted to be a leader for ‘all of Britain’.  “I will be a leader for the north, the south, the east, and the west, for Scotland, Wales, and for Northern Ireland,” he said.

That was the sentence when we knew the King of the North was dead – but a Prime Minister forged in the North was born.

• Chris Maguire co-hosts the Northern Spin podcast with Frank McKenna. Listen to the podcast, which is sponsored by Sancus Lending UK, here.