Former Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham became the United Kingdom’s prime minister on Monday following the resignation of his predecessor, Keir Starmer.
As is tradition, King Charles III invited Burnham to form a new government. The two met at Buckingham Palace on Monday, during which Burnham became the new prime minister.
Burnham won a seat in Parliament earlier this month with 55% of the vote, and immediately ran to replace Starmer as Labour Party leader.
“I do say to my own party, this is a final chance to change,” Burnham said after he won his seat in Parliament. “We must hear it, we must act upon it, and we must get it right. There will be no second chance. But it is a chance now, from this result tonight, to build a new politics based on unity and hope, turning away from the path that takes us to a divided, politics of the kind we’ve seen in the U.S.”
Starmer reluctantly resigned and had previously vowed to challenge anyone to keep his role as party leader, including Burnham. Burnham, widely considered further to the left than Starmer, has called for the U.K. government to take greater control of public services, including water and energy and taxing the wealthy. Burnham also took a stronger position than Starmer against Israel’s war on Gaza, and indicated a willingness to impose sanctions.
Burnham was elected to Parliament for the first time in 2001, representing the Leigh district in the Manchester area. He also served in the Cabinet of former Prime Minister Gordon Brown.
Starmer succeeded Jeremy Corbyn in April 2020 as the party’s leader, and in 2024 became the U.K.’s sixth prime minister in nearly a decade. His departure marked the country’s highest rate of turnover in the prime minister job in almost 200 years.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
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