Andy Burnham is the Labour leader, third time lucky for the UK’s prime ministerinwaiting

Sunday, July 19th 2026 - 01:35 UTC

Andy Burnham sworn is as MP fom Makerfield

By Eric Shaw, Honorary Research Fellow in Politics, University of Stirling. Mr. Shaw is alzo a member of the Labour Party - A brief introduction, Andy Burnham officially becomes UK Prime Minister next Monday and can be expected to announce plans for new oil and gas drilling in the North Sea, as reported by BBC.

However the Labour Party's 2024 manifesto - which the new leader said he would follow - had pledged to not issue new licenses but to honor existing ones.

At the heart of the debate are two oil and gas fields in Scotland - Rosebank and Jackdaw - which regulators approved in 2022 and 2023 under the then Conservative government, but were overturned in 2025 after a legal challenge..