Veteran politician Andy Burnham, who secured a return to parliament just last week, appears poised to succeed Keir Starmer as British Prime Minister after would-be rival Wes Streeting offered him his support.
LONDON - If events unfold as many in Britain now expect, the country’s next prime minister will be Andy Burnham, the Greater Manchester mayor known as “King of the North” - to be appointed, of course, by an actual king, Charles III.
Burnham, 56, is the runaway favorite to become the leader of the ruling Labour Party after Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced his resignation Monday - just two years after sweeping into office on a commanding election victory.
The scale of the excitement was evident within hours of Starmer’s speech announcing that he would step aside.
Television helicopters tracked Burnham’s train journey to London live - a highly unusual spectacle for a politician who has only just returned to Parliament after winning a by-election last week in the tiny constituency of Makerfield in the north of England.
