Andy Burnham elected new Labour leader, to succeed Starmer as UK PM

Andy Burnham will become the United Kingdom’s next prime minister after he was elected leader of the governing Labour Party.

Shabana Mahmood, the home secretary, announced Burnham’s victory on Friday, confirming that he would succeed Keir Starmer as party leader and assume office as prime minister on Monday.

In his first address as Labour leader, Burnham said he was ready to lead and pledged to restore hope and confidence in British politics.

“I am ready,” he said.

Burnham argued that the country needed a fresh political direction, saying his generation of leaders had failed to confront a political culture and economic system that no longer worked for ordinary people.

He said his priority would be to build “a new politics” capable of delivering meaningful change.

“People are looking for us to deliver and we will,” he said.

Burnham also paid tribute to Starmer, crediting him with rebuilding Labour after one of its worst electoral defeats and leading the party back to government.

He said Starmer had placed Labour in a position to improve the lives of Britons and thanked him for his commitment to the country and the party.

Starmer resigned as prime minister and Labour leader on June 22 following months of mounting political pressure.

Announcing his decision, he said he had “heard the answer” from his party on whether he was the right person to lead Labour into the next general election and accepted the verdict “with good grace”.

Burnham’s inauguration on Monday will make him Britain’s seventh prime minister in the past decade, extending a period of frequent leadership changes in UK politics.(TheCable)