Britain’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced his resignation on Monday, one day before the tenth anniversary of the Brexit vote. Since the Brexit vote, Britain has had a succession of six prime ministers, starting with David Cameron. The next guy will be the seventh post-Brexit, and that’s important because Brexit is basically the reason why no one can stay in office in the UK. It really was Britain shooting itself in the foot then blaming everyone else because they can’t walk now. Well, in any case, Labour is already looking ahead to their post-Starmer era. They believe their new guy will get it done – this is Andy Burnham, and many people want Starmer to step aside sooner than September so that Burnham can be their new PM.
When Andy Burnham arrived in Parliament on Monday as the Labour Party’s great hope for political redemption, the only thing missing was the white steed. The former mayor of Greater Manchester swept into the chamber for his swearing-in with the flourish and charisma that his fellow party members are praying will deliver them from electoral disaster. He took a selfie with hundreds of his new colleagues behind him, everyone beaming at the change they hope is coming.
It now appears almost certain that Mr. Burnham will succeed Prime Minister Keir Starmer after other potential rivals stood down and endorsed him on Monday. In Westminster, the home of Parliament, Mr. Burnham is already being treated as the prime minister apparent.
But if Mr. Burnham is that successor, he will soon preside over a government that faces all the same challenges that prematurely ended Mr. Starmer’s premiership after less than two politically grueling years. They include a sagging economy, chronically underinvested public services, an increasingly powerful populist movement and the never-ending challenge of dealing with President Trump.
“There are no good choices being faced by this incoming government — it’s a terrible inheritance,” said Luke Sullivan, who was Mr. Starmer’s political director before he became prime minister. “The major structural problems that face the U.K., the major global and international security headlines that face the U.K., aren’t going to change. He’s got a chance. But the path he’s going to have to tread, and the needle he’s going to have to thread to deliver — it is incredible.”
Notably, Mr. Starmer’s resignation came the day before Tuesday’s 10-year anniversary of the divisive Brexit referendum on June 23, 2016, when a slim majority of Britons voted to leave the European Union. Mr. Burnham is poised to become Britain’s seventh prime minister since that decision, which has continued to have consequences ever since.
Perhaps no issue has bedeviled Mr. Starmer more in his two years than the economic sluggishness that many economic experts attribute in part to slow growth because of Britain’s self-imposed isolation. That sluggishness has left many Britons frustrated with their wages, the cost of living and their overall quality of life.
“A terrible inheritance” is a perfect Britishism. It works really well in this case too – they’re looking at Burnham as someone Starmer-like but without Starmer’s baggage and scandal, but the sad truth is that the Brexit bell cannot be un-rung. Starmer actually tried to bring the UK closer to Europe, and I imagine that’s on Burnham’s agenda too. Anyway, I love all of the tweets about how Britain doesn’t have a prime minister, a Doctor Who or a James Bond right now. It’s like when Pope Francis died when there was no sitting Archbishop of Canterbury. History is being made all over the place.
Is this the first time the UK’s been looking for a new Prime Minister, James Bond and Doctor Who at the same time
— Doinkadect Klomberbatch (@Doinkadect) June 22, 2026
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.
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- Andy Burnham – Mayor of Greater Manchester arrives for a meeting at Downing Street, London, England, UK on Tuesday 31 March, 2026.,Image: 1087683438, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: Please credit photographer and agency when publishing as Justin Ng/UPPA/Avalon., Model Release: no , Credit line: Justin Ng/Avalon
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- Britain’s King Charles III speaks to Mayor Andy Burnham, right, and Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis as he meets emergency service personnel at Greater Manchester Police Headquarters in Manchester, England, Monday, Oct. 20, 2025 to hear from staff representing Great Manchester’s Police, Fire and Rescue and Ambulance services about their roles responding to recent events and protecting people in the area.,Image: 1046944581, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: *** NO UK USE FOR 48 HRS ***, Model Release: no , Credit line: Alastair Grant/Avalon
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- 17/06/2026. Evian, France. Prime Minister Keir Starmer during the ‘Reviving a balanced, shared and sustainable economic growth for all’ working session as he attends day three of the G7 Leaders Summit with his wife Victoria, hosted by French President Emmanuel Macron in Evian.,Image: 1110745926, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: This image is for Editorial use purposes only. The Image can not be used for advertising or commercial use. The Image can not be altered in any form. All images are Crown copyright and re-usable under the Open Government Licence v3.0, except where otherw, Model Release: no , Credit line: Ben Perry/Avalon
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- Sir Keir Starmer with wife Victoria as he makes an announcement concerning his future as British Prime Minister, Downing Street, London, UK, 22 June 2026.,Image: 1111756913, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no , Credit line: Justin Ng/Avalon
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- Keir Starmer makes an announcement concerning his future as British Prime Minister, Downing Street, London, UK, 22 June 2026.,Image: 1111757238, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no , Credit line: Justin Ng/Avalon
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- Keir Starmer makes an announcement concerning his future as British Prime Minister, Downing Street, London, UK, 22 June 2026.,Image: 1111758032, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no , Credit line: Justin Ng/Avalon
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- The front pages of todays newspapers with Sir Keir Starmer on the front regarding him stepping down as Prime Minister,Image: 1111944204, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no , Credit line: Geoffrey Swaine/Avalon
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- The front pages of todays newspapers with Sir Keir Starmer on the front regarding him stepping down as Prime Minister,Image: 1111944223, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no , Credit line: Geoffrey Swaine/Avalon
Why is rejoining the EU not a top priority?
Wondering the same. 🤔
This. I don’t understand it at all.
There was call for a revote almost immediately, wasn’t there? Because so many people went on the record like – oh I didn’t think it would actually happen. We need a redo!
And then everything that was on the supposed Brexit menu, that people had voted for, turned out to not be on the menu.
It feels like a con job that has hobbled a whole government.
Why is there not a vote to rejoin the EU?
Who says the EU would take them back easily? They voted to leave, and even before that, Britain was not a full member of the EU. They never accepted the common currency. On top of that, Britain now has their own growing problem with fascism: Nigel Farage and his Reform Party. I hope new Labour leadership can inspire people to look beyond the propaganda of Farage and his ilk, and put the country on track to re-join the EU one day. These are perilous times.
Because we had a public vote and the public voted leave. The EU is not something we can jump in and out of.
Because that’s not how out works. It was a public referendum. The public voted leave. And the EU basically told Britain that if you’re out you’re out because it’s taking literally years for them to leave in the first place. That’s why it’s been such a ish show. The negotiations to leave didn’t even wrap up until a few years ago. Now can that change down the road? Maybe. Anything is possible in this current world climate.
The EU have stated that if the UK want to rejoin, they could do so under the same terms as before.
Why would the UK be the EU’s top priority? They have a long waiting list for membership – including Ukraine. The UK lost the right to dictate terms to the world a long time ago.
I mean sure Britain is in a full blown meltdown of leopards devouring faces, but honestly The Dr Who/Bond decisions are where the weighty international impact falls. I’m completely out of touch with who the hottest Scottish actors are these days, but give our “remain” heroes their due. We all know the best Who/Bonds have had tartans.
Is former mayor of Greater Manchester the only elected office Burnham has ever held before his recent election to parliament? Because that seems a thin resume for someone who is now expected to save a failing nation. He’s going to need more than “flourish and charisma”.
He’s been an MP for Greater Manchester from 2001 and served several offices during that time before becoming the mayor of Greater Manchester. He wanted to run for MP before this byelection and go back to Westminster again but I vaguely remember some MP’s blocking his bid for that as that would threaten Starmer’s position.
He wasn’t an MP he was a Mayor. He was MP for Leigh from 2001 to 2017 and held several cabinet positions in the Blair government. He failed twice in leadership campaigns (once to Ed Miliband and then to Jeremy Corbyn). He left Westminster to become Mayor of Greater Manchester, as he believed he could do more for the region as mayor than as an MP. He was elected mayor in 2017 and remained mayor until last Thursday.
His route back into government is controversial (to say the least) he asked several MPs to give up their seats but, only Josh Simons agreed (Simons is a shadowy figure who is currently facing an inquiry over his actions in the Labour Together group)
IMHO SKS biggest mistake was not letting Burnham run in the Gorton and Denton by-election. If he had run there I’ve a strong feeling he wouldn’t have beaten the Green candidate. She was fantastic and her acceptance speech spoke to so many up and down the country. Still we’re here now and our only “hope” is that Burnham isn’t as bad as many in the Labour membership fear.
Thank you for the info. That sounds more tested. I wish him luck.
I don’t know a lot about Burnham but I also avoid reading up on what daily fail, telegraph, bbc, the rags write up as they seemed to be against anyone that’s not farage and his ilk. The write ups are always slanted and biased.
and some in the Labour party are already starting to sharpen the knives out for Andy Burnham… honestly, they just can’t help themselves.
When Labour got elected and ousted the Tories, people wanted them to be different from the Tories but Starmer’s government is just Tory lite. Pandering to racists to get the reform voters to vote for them but it’s not working.
They also keep saying NHS waiting times have shortened but that’s not mine and my family’s experience. What is happening now is in my GP, they are using AI receptionists to triage appointments and enquiries and encouraging us to go to A&E but A&E’s are also slam so it’s a losing situation.
The Children’s hospital’s waiting list is still too long, it’s now nearly a year to get a routine appointment from a specialist. It’s madness!
However, I’m sure Starmer’s sponsors/backers have already got their money’s worth back with all the deals, backhand or otherwise.
Things will get worse if Burnham replaces Reeves with Ed Milliband, much worse.
Also the Fail has already started – they have an article on the homepage about Burnham’s moobs?!?!?!
Yeah, even on the bbc, they are already starting with the slanted stories. They won’t be happy until they have someone like farage as PM.
Another huge aspect of it is the Labour party moving right. They were no longer working in opposition to the right. Their policies and actions didn’t have the people’s interests. It’s why Labour is collapsing and how Reform was able to get a foot hold in the country. Keir Starmer is basically a conservative. And a corrupt one at that.
They’re doing little to help working people economically and have completely caved on social justice issues such as immigration and trans rights. If people want this watered down agenda, they have better options.
I am rooting for the Green Party from the US.
I respectfully disagree. The 30 hour childcare and breakfast clubs have done a lot to help working parents. The increase in minimum wage and the introduction of workers rights bill all help working people. Immigration has gone down as well as boat crossings. The main problem for the Labour party (and SKS in particular) is that the MSM don’t give this enough air time. At the risk of falling into conspiracy theory territory there are a LOT of foreign players who NEED a Labour government to fail. Steve Bannon made no secret in his part in helping to facilitate Brexit and with Boris Johnson embroiled in all sorts of Russian intrigue it’s hardly surprising that the MSM and the RW press had it in for SKS since day 1.
Who can forget the ho-ha about SKS receiving a free pair of glasses? This went on for months, yet when Nigel Farage received £800k for a house it was forgotten within days. SKS recieved Arsenal tickets and a new suit and there was a complete melt-down in the press. Nigel Farage recieves £5m from a crypto billionaire and it’s only now he’s starting to receive a little heat. Nigel Farage doesn’t hold surgeries in his constituency because it’s too dangerous – even though the £5m was said to be covering the costs. Yet, SKS goes on a trip to NATO and he’s called “never here Kier”
I get that a lot of people dislike(d) SKS but I just wish that their dislike was based on facts rather than tittle tattle passed on by the MSM. I do agree that he’s not as LW as I would like but, given the alternatives he’s the best we could have hoped for in a world that is moving progressively away from the centre and towards the extreme right.
I don’t read MSM. But I did listen to the hearings in regards to Peter Mandelson and the Epstein files and SKS rampant cronysim and pushing for appointees without proper vetting. Along with a litany of other unethical dealings. It’s clear that people want something different and while I don’t think Burnham is that big change people are looking for, hopefully he will be smart enough not to appoint someone who was friends with Jeffrey Epstein as a US Ambassador.
Even with the Mandelson appointment there’s a great deal of hypocrisy. I’m not saying for one moment that I agreed with the appointment, in fact I wondered “what the hell he was doing” However, the MSM, and opposition parties all thought it was a “FANTASTIC” appointment. They all were saying Mandelson would be our “secret weapon” in appeasing Trump. It’s only when the Epstien Files were released that the people started criticising him. If I knew he was a “wrong un” then those who matter surely did but, to the last man and woman they were all in agreement that Mandelson was the right man for the job. Every single one of them!
I’ll go further and say the same people who championed Mandelson were the same people who berated SKS for not entering into the Iran war. It’s was only when they saw for themselves what a complete clusterfcuk it was that they backtracked and had to agree SKS made the right decision.
The jury’s out on Burnham but, given who he’s appointed for his Chief of Staff I don’t hold out much hope for the country. I’m more than happy to be proven wrong but, I won’t be holding my breath.
This is a bad bad move for Labour – its unlikely there will be any other challengers and if there are it will be a tick box exercise. The voters are not happy about this as they don’t want someone that they didn’t vote for esp given that this has happened several times over the past decade and we are sick of it.
The self proclaimed ‘King of the North’ best watch his back – if he is seen to install himself (and thats very much what his attitude has been these past few months) then the voters will absolutely punish Labour at the next election. This is looking more and more like some sort of direct power transfer rather than an actual party vote. I was reading that Burnham supporters were complaining about Starmer not staying beyond Sept as Burnham wasn’t going to be ready to be PM by then – WTAF. Its this kind of behaviour that are driving voters towards the Greens and Reform.
Labour and Burnham have a LOT to do to gain the trust of the voters and so far am not seeing any of them make an effort. Am already sick of seeing Burnham’s smug mug in the UK media.
ITA @Digital Unicorn. I just can’t understand why the PLP have gone out of their way to bring back someone who failed twice in a leadership contest. Someone who walked away from Westminster and did ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to help clean up the party and make them electable. Sir Kier Starmer has made mistakes (Gaza, Israel and arresting elderly PA protestors several unnecessary U-Turns) but, I honestly can’t see what he did that was so bad they could allow a coronation of someone with no current ministerial experience. Unless they find someone to contest him in a leadership contest then the guy has no legitimacy whatsoever and the opposition is going to have a field day at PMQs.
Burnham’s already complaining that SKS isn’t giving him enough time to prepare but, he’s the one who campaigned on the anti-Starmer ticket. He’s the one who didn’t put “Labour” on any of his campaign literature. He’s the one who didn’t champion the good policies this government has introduced. Not once did he pushback on the relentless pile-on by the MSM on anything (and everything) SKS tried to do. SKS offered him a place in the cabinet and Burnham refused. That would have at least given Burnham a chance to get up to speed with the cut and thrust of a modern government. The MSM having got what they wanted are now starting to criticise SKS for being “frosty” towards Burnham. Yet, today at PMQs he was nothing but courteous and polite, not only about Burnham but, about his cabinet colleagues and the backbenchers. I may have fumed about his stance on Israel but, I have never once doubted that SKS for the most part had the best interests of the country at heart. I wish I could say the same about the Makerfield Snake but, looking at who he’s appointed as his Chief of Staff I think a lot of those backbenchers are going to regret being so quick sticking the knife into SKS.
This guy looks like Keir Starmer, IMO. Maybe it’s the deer in the headlights look?