UK Prime Minister, Keir Starmer resigned on Monday June 22nd. Starmer had been placed under tremendous pressure from both within and outside the Labour Party to resign, following the election of Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham as an MP days earlier. Burnham had made known his ambition to replace Starmer as Prime Minister for many months and quickly announced that he will stand for the position of leader of the Labour Party. Wes Streeting, who many had tipped to stand for Party leader, has decided not to stand against him. This move has echoes of the Blair / Brown pact in the 1990’s when Gordon Brown stood aside for Tony Blair to be appointed leader of New Labour.
It is unclear at the moment who else might stand for Party leader. Over recent weeks various names have been mooted, including: Angela Raynor, who resigned in 2025 following a tax scandal from which she says she has subsequently been cleared by HMRC, Ed Miliband, Energy Secretary, who previously stated that he wouldn’t stand and Shabana Mahmood, Home Secretary, whose immigration policy is unpopular with many Party members. At the time of writing two MPs have declined to rule out standing-Darren Jones and Al Carns.
None of the above would appear to have enough support to have a realistic chance of defeating Burnham and it looks likely that the leadership will be uncontested and that Burnham will become Prime Minister.
Starmer will remain as Prime Minister until his successor is chosen in September, or earlier if the position is uncontested.
There is no evidence that a Burnham government would be significantly to the left of Starmer’s government. Whilst he has suggested that sectors such as power and water supply be slowly returned to public ownership, he has also made it clear that nothing will be done that accepts the markets. Ultimately Burnham will also disappoint working people and the struggle to create a new mass party which represents the interests of the working class continues.
