Andy Burnham addresses supporters outside the Labour Party campaign office on June 18, during his successful campaign to become elected as the member of Parliament for Makerfield. [Oli SCARFF / AFP]
The United Kingdom has a new head of government after Keir Starmer, who was voted into power just two years ago at the 2024 general election, is set to leave his post as prime minister and Andy Burnham is replacing him as leader of the Labour Party on Friday, and of the country in the coming days.
On June 22, Starmer bowed to months of growing criticism of his leadership and political judgment from both within the Labour Party and outside it, and announced he would be stepping down.
Burnham, a former Cabinet minister and member of Parliament, or MP, who had spent the last nine years out of national politics serving as mayor of Greater Manchester, had long been regarded as Starmer's biggest rival within the Labour Party, and just days before Starmer announced he would quit, secured a return to Parliament, signaling the end for Starmer.
With no rivals standing against him, Burnham won the backing of 349 Labour Party MPs out of the total of 403.
