Veteran politician Andy Burnham has moved a step closer to becoming the United Kingdom’s next prime minister, winning the endorsement of a majority of Labour MPs to replace Keir Starmer.
The 56‑year‑old’s Labour leadership bid garnered the support of 322 Labour MPs on Thursday, leaving him the sole declared candidate to replace Starmer, who announced his resignation last month.
Burnham appears set to be crowned Labour leader unopposed on the first day of the nomination process.
Should Burnham secure at least 323 nominations, it would become mathematically impossible for any other challenger to gather the 81 signatures needed to enter the contest, out of a total of 402 Labour MPs.
“It is all starting to feel very real,” Burnham said in a social‑media video posted shortly after the nomination process opened Thursday morning.
Nominations close on 16 July. If no rival emerges, Burnham will be formally anointed Labour leader and prime minister‑in‑waiting at a special conference the following day.
He would then succeed Starmer at 10 Downing Street on 20 July after meeting King Charles, becoming Britain’s seventh prime minister in ten years.
“There’s no one else,” a Labour MP told the AFP news agency on condition of anonymity after nominating Burnham.
Armed Forces Minister Al Carns, who had been viewed as Burnham’s final potential rival, withdrew from the contest late on Wednesday.
He had previously argued that a contest would provide the party with “the opportunity for a proper debate.”
“But months of internal Labour politics isn’t what the country needs right now,” he said.
Burnham, dubbed the “King of the North” for winning three successive Greater Manchester mayoral elections, has pledged to “bring about the biggest rebalancing of power our country has seen.”
His flagship proposal is the establishment of a “No. 10 North” to coordinate greater devolution, a nod to the prime minister’s traditional residence at 10 Downing Street.
Burnham has committed to fiscal discipline and reducing the country’s swelling welfare bill, having already attempted to reassure markets by adhering to existing borrowing limits.
He will confront the same challenges that plagued Starmer’s tenure, notably sluggish growth, a cost‑of‑living squeeze, and an unpredictable US president in Donald Trump.
He has also signalled that he may take a different stance to Starmer on Israel, which received firm support from the Labour government even amid growing criticism of its actions in Gaza.
“I am sorry about that,” Burnham told The Guardian in an interview published on Thursday. “The response has too often not been good enough. We need to do better.”
Starmer, under mounting pressure over policy U‑turns and questions about his judgment, announced on 22 June that he was resigning after losing the backing of Labour MPs.
His resignation followed a by‑election victory by Burnham that returned him to Parliament, enabling a widely anticipated leadership challenge.
On the day Starmer announced his resignation, Burnham was sworn into parliament, resuming his role as an MP after a hiatus from 2001‑2017.
Betting on Burnham
Around 200 Labour MPs were photographed with Burnham in Westminster, a clear sign that they expect him to take over.
Former Health Secretary Wes Streeting announced he was withdrawing his leadership bid and endorsing Burnham.
Burnham, viewed as slightly to the left of the more centrist Starmer and more charismatic, is Labour’s most popular politician according to recent polls.
Many MPs believe he offers Labour the strongest chance to win back voters from Nigel Farage’s anti‑immigrant Reform UK party ahead of the next general election, projected for 2029.
Reform UK has led Labour in national opinion polls for more than a year, though the gap has narrowed in recent weeks amid scrutiny of Farage’s finances.
One unnamed Labour MP said the party was right to “roll the dice” on Burnham, adding that “he couldn’t be worse than Starmer.”
“I hope he’s a breath of fresh air,” the MP told AFP.
