UK Politics: A New Era Dawns
After weeks of anticipation, the moment for Andy Burnham has finally arrived. The Labour Party leader is set to become the UK’s new prime minister on Monday, succeeding Keir Starmer, who announced his resignation last month following missteps and judgment errors that eroded his standing with his party and the public.
Burnham, who secured nominations from 379 of the 403 Labour lawmakers in the House of Commons, will take office on Monday and become the seventh UK prime minister since 2016 in a now well-rehearsed handover.
According to a spokesperson, Burnham will say in his first speech as prime minister that he is ‘acutely aware’ of how many changes of leader the country has been through in the past decade and will pledge to restore stability.
Starmer, who became Labour leader in 2020 after the party’s worst-ever election loss, led it to a landslide victory four years later but was soon defeated by the challenges of governing. In his final Prime Minister’s Questions session in Parliament on Wednesday, Starmer defended his government’s record on the international stage, especially its support for Ukraine, and its domestic policy achievements.
He mentioned stronger protections for working people, a reduction in child poverty, a law designed to stop official cover-ups after tragedies, and higher defense spending. ‘I am proud to leave this country in a better shape than I found it,’ he said.
Burnham, the former mayor of Greater Manchester, has pledged to make politics ‘less toxic,’ improve living standards across the country, and ‘bring back the hope we have all been missing.’ Critics and supporters alike will soon be clamoring for details of how Burnham plans to fulfill his pledges.
Attention will quickly turn to who Burnham will appoint to his Cabinet. He’s expected to make changes to Starmer’s top team, especially to the biggest jobs of Treasury chief, foreign secretary, and home secretary. However, he said Friday that he hadn’t made a final decision about who to install in his Cabinet.
In his first speech as Labour leader, Burnham praised Starmer’s achievements, saying he would ‘build on the foundation laid’ by his predecessor. He emphasized the need for significant economic growth to address the country’s challenges and improve living standards.
Britain’s parliamentary democracy allows governing parties to change leaders, and thus prime ministers, without the need for a general election. The next national poll doesn’t have to be held until 2029, though Burnham can call one sooner if he wants.
On Monday morning, Starmer will travel from Downing Street to Buckingham Palace to formally tell King Charles III that he’s resigning. Soon after, Burnham will go to the palace and Charles will ask him to form a government. He will officially become prime minister in a ceremony known as ‘kissing hands,’ although the king has no political power and merely offers the job to the leader of the party that can command a majority in the House of Commons.
