Andy Burnham Becomes Britain's Prime Minister as Keir Starmer Steps Down
The former mayor of Greater Manchester is the U.K.'s seventh prime minister in a decade. Under Britain's system, the governing party chose its new leader without a general election.
Andy Burnham became prime minister of the United Kingdom on Monday, July 20, after Keir Starmer resigned and King Charles III invited Burnham to form a government, NPR and ABC News report. Both men are from the center-left Labour Party. Burnham was confirmed as Labour leader at a special party conference on Friday, July 17, as the only candidate, with nominations from 379 of the party's 403 members of Parliament.
Starmer, who led Labour to a large majority in the 2024 general election, announced in June that he would step down after the party lost more than 1,000 local council seats in May's elections. In his final remarks outside Downing Street, he said serving as prime minister had been the privilege of his life and pledged his full support to Burnham.
Burnham, 56, served 16 years as a member of Parliament, including in the cabinets of Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, before becoming mayor of Greater Manchester in 2017. He is the seventh British prime minister since the 2016 referendum to leave the European Union. Under the parliamentary system, the next general election is not expected for about three years.
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