A woman sits on the south bank of the Thames, overlooking Big Ben and the Palace of Westminster in central London, on the eve of Andy Burnham’s takeover as British Prime Minister, July 19, 2026 (AFP/Henry Nicholls)
Labor Party Andy Burnham takes office as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom on Monday and aims to bring a change of style and policy to Downing Street in a country facing serious economic and social challenges.
At 56, the man who until last month was mayor of Greater Manchester, northern England, succeeds the retiring Keir Starmer, who took over Downing Street in July 2024 after Labour’s landslide victory in the legislative elections that ended 14 years of Conservative government.
With the support of around 95% of Labor MPs, Andy Burnham became leader of the Labor Party, the majority party in Parliament, on Friday.
Keir Starmer announced his resignation on June 22, having been unpopular nationally and causing significant controversy within his party after bungling decisions, controversies and local election defeats.
On Monday morning there will be a ritual that the British are becoming familiar with thanks to the Waltz of Prime Ministers. Andy Burnham became the sixth person to enter Downing Street in ten years.
First, Keir Starmer will give a short farewell speech at 10 Downing Street in London, and then go to submit her resignation to King Charles III at Buckingham Palace.
Succession of British prime ministers since 1940, showing the length of their tenure and highlighting the instability of the last decade (AFP/Laetitia COMMANAY)
Andy Burnham will then meet with the king, who will ask him to form a government. He will make his first speech as prime minister when he arrives in Downing Street at around 11:40 GMT.
He will set out “his priorities” with the aim of “restoring trust in government” and “giving oxygen” to Britons in the face of the cost of living crisis, his team said.
Manage “differently”
The new government is due to be announced this afternoon.
Many are wondering about Rachel Reeves’ successor as Treasury Secretary. Several names are circulating at the moment, including that of Shabana Mahmood, who works at the Home Office, where she has a very tough policy on immigration.
Andy Burnham leaves the Labor Party’s “extraordinary conference” which confirmed him as the new party leader and Britain’s next Prime Minister, in London on July 17, 2026 (AFP/Toby Shepherd)
Andy Burnham will have to respond to the challenges that brought down his predecessors in the first place, sluggish economic growth and a persistent cost of living crisis. Its room for maneuver is limited due to very high public debt.
Labor is counting on Andy “King in the North” Burnham to stem the rise of Nigel Farage’s anti-immigration Reform UK party to top the polls at the next legislative election, scheduled for 2029.
In an interview with the Times on Monday, Andy Burnham, an experienced speaker with a casual style who is seen as slightly more to the left than Keir Starmer, promised to govern “differently”. “We have to show people where we are going and then the steps to get there,” he insisted.
He repeated on Friday that this was Labour’s “last chance”.
“He is eager to please above all and therefore reluctant to make difficult decisions, even though that is exactly what the country needs at the moment,” Conservative opposition leader Kemi Badenoch told The Times.
After two unsuccessful attempts to lead the Labor Party in 2010 and 2015, Andy Burnham left London to return to the North, where he is from. In 2017 he was elected Mayor of Greater Manchester.
It was at the head of this former industrial bastion, which had experienced an economic renaissance, that he became one of the country’s most popular political figures.
Oil and gas
Cartoonist Kaya Mar displays a painting depicting a satire of new British Prime Minister Andy Burnham and “Larry the Cat” outside Downing Street in central London, July 20, 2026 (AFP/Oli SCARFF)
He said he wanted to decentralize power and create “North 10” (referring to 10 Downing Street) with its headquarters in Manchester.
And his team has warned he will scrap Keir Starmer’s proposed digital ID project to crack down on illegal foreigners working.
According to British media reports, Andy Burnham could authorize the development of oil and gas fields in the North Sea. Without confirming this, Lucy Powell, Labour’s number two, confirmed the new prime minister would have a “more pragmatic” approach on the issue.
US President Donald Trump, who has repeatedly called for the exploitation of the North Sea’s resources, has already congratulated himself on the creation of the social network “Pravda”: it will take the United Kingdom from the status of “a poor disaster to the status of one of the richest countries on the planet.”