JUST IN: Andy Burnham Set to Become UK’s New Prime Minister After Keir Starmer’s Resignation

Former Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham was officially declared leader of Britain’s governing Labour Party on Friday formally paving the way for him to become the country’s next leader when Prime Minister Keir Starmer resigns on Monday.

Burnham secured the leadership unopposed after winning the backing of 379 of Labour’s 403 members of Parliament, bringing an end to the party’s swift contest to replace Starmer following his resignation announcement last month.

Under Britain’s parliamentary system, the governing party can replace its leader and therefore the prime minister without holding a general election. Burnham will become the U.K.’s seventh prime minister since Brexit in 2016.

In a speech on Friday morning, Burnham paid tribute to Starmer, crediting him with reviving the party after its election defeat.

“Under Keir Starmer’s leadership, we went from our worst defeat to one of the best victories in our history,” he said, adding: “Keir put Labour back in a position to change people’s lives.”

He also acknowledged Labour’s shortcomings, saying politicians, “myself included,” had failed ordinary people by not confronting an economic model that “simply doesn’t work well enough,” arguing that “four decades of neoliberalism” had left many communities behind.

Burnham pledged to be “a leader for the North, the South, the East and the West [of England], for Scotland, Wales and for Northern Ireland,” saying he wanted to unite every part of the country behind a “common cause.”

He inherits a government facing mounting economic pressures, strained public services and declining political support.

Labour trailed right-wing Reform UK in recent polling following heavy losses in May’s local elections and a vetting scandal over his former U.S. ambassador’s past associations with Jeffrey Epstein intensified pressure on Starmer, who will formally resign to King Charles III next week.

Watch above via Sky News.

New: The Mediaite One-Sheet "Newsletter of Newsletters"
Your daily summary and analysis of what the many, many media newsletters are saying and reporting. Subscribe now!