Andy Burnham will become UK prime minister after a meeting with King
Charles III
[July 20, 2026]
By JILL LAWLESS
LONDON (AP) — The moment for Andy Burnham has finally come.
After weeks as U.K. prime minister-in-waiting, Burnham will take office
on Monday, succeeding the departing Keir Starmer, and Britain’s
political turbulence will give way, at least temporarily, to smooth
choreography.
Burnham will become the seventh U.K. prime minister since 2016 in a now
well-rehearsed handover after replacing Starmer as leader of the
center-left governing Labour Party on Friday.
A spokesperson said Burnham will say in his first speech as prime
minister he’s “acutely aware” of how many changes of leader the country
has been through in the past decade, and will pledge to restore
stability.
Starmer said much the same when he took office two years ago. Last month
he announced he would resign after missteps and judgment errors that
eroded his standing with his party and the public.
Burnham was the only candidate in a contest to become the party’s new
leader, securing nominations from 379 of the 403 Labour lawmakers in the
House of Commons.
On Monday morning Starmer will travel the mile from Downing Street to
Buckingham Palace to formally tell King Charles III that he's resigning.
Soon after, Burnham will go to the palace and Charles will ask him to
form a government. He will officially become prime minister in a
ceremony known as “kissing hands.”
The king’s role harkens back to a time when the monarch exercised
supreme power and chose a prime minister to run the government. Today,
the king has no political power, but the monarch still officially offers
the job to the leader of the party that can command a majority in the
House of Commons. No hand-kissing is involved.
Britain’s parliamentary democracy allows governing parties to change
leaders, and thus prime ministers, without the need for a general
election. The next national poll doesn’t have to be held until 2029,
though Burnham can call one sooner if he wants.
Burnham will head from the palace to Downing Street, where it’s
customary for new prime ministers to make a short speech outside the
prime minister’s residence.
The former mayor of Greater Manchester has pledged to make politics
“less toxic,” improve living standards across the country and “bring
back the hope we have all been missing.”
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Andy Burnham after being confirmed as the Labour Party's new leader
and the country's next prime minister, during 'Labour's Special
Conference' in central London, Friday July 17, 2026. (Henry
Nicholls/Pool Photo via AP)
“I will work to build a new politics,” he said after becoming Labour
leader on Friday. “The country is crying out for it.”
Critics and supporters alike will soon be clamoring for details of
how Burnham plans to fulfill his pledges.
“Fundamentally, it only will work if you can generate significant
economic growth, because it’s the lack of growth that’s really
holding the country back,” said Joshi Herrmann, who has followed
Burnham’s career as founder of Manchester news site The Mill.
Attention will quickly turn to who Burnham will appoint to his
Cabinet. He's expected to make changes to Starmer’s top team,
especially to the biggest jobs of Treasury chief, foreign secretary
and home secretary.
He said Friday that he hadn’t made a final decision about who to
install in his Cabinet.
In his first speech as Labour leader, Burnham praised Starmer’s
achievements, saying he would “build on the foundation laid” by his
predecessor.
Starmer became Labour leader in 2020 after the party’s worst-ever
election loss, and led it to a landslide victory four years later.
But he was soon defeated by the challenges of governing.
At his final Prime Minister’s Questions session in Parliament on
Wednesday, Starmer defended his government’s record on the
international stage — especially its support for Ukraine — and its
domestic policy achievements. He mentioned stronger protections for
working people, a reduction in child poverty, a law designed to stop
official cover-ups after tragedies, and higher defense spending.
“I am proud to leave this country in a better shape than I found
it,” he said.
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