Sir Keir Starmer announced his resignation as Prime Minister of Britain and leader of the Labour Party on Monday (June 22). He announced that the nomination process for the election of his successor will begin within the next two weeks (Fortnight).
According to various international media reports, including the BBC, Andy Burnham is leading the race to become the new Prime Minister of the country. All estimates indicate that he is going to become Prime Minister very soon.

Who is Andy Burnham
Andy Burnham is a senior British Labour politician. He has served as the Mayor of Greater Manchester since 2017. Burnham was born in Liverpool in January 1970.
He grew up in northwest England during his childhood and adolescence and joined the Labour Party at the age of 15. Later, he studied English at the University of Cambridge and began his political career after graduating from there.

Burnham was first elected to the British Parliament in 2001. He has held several important positions during the governments of the Labour Party, Tony Blair and Gordon Brown. These include the Home Office, the Treasury and various senior positions in the Department of Health.
In 2008, he was appointed Minister for Culture. He was then promoted to Health Secretary in 2009. Burnham was also responsible for the National Health Service (NHS) in England. He tried to become the leader of the Labour Party twice, but failed.

In 2017, he left Parliament to become the first elected mayor of Greater Manchester. As mayor, he worked on a number of important issues, including transport, housing and employment.
He came to public attention for his repeated tough stance on central government support for northern England during the Covid-19 pandemic. Since then, many have called him the ‘King of the North’, a title inspired by the popular TV series Game of Thrones.
Burnham then returned to the British Parliament in 2026. This time he was elected as the Member of Parliament for the Makerfield constituency. His closest rival in this election was Reform UK. The party lagged behind Labour by more than 9,000 votes.

In the 2024 general election, the Labour Party won about 45 percent of the vote in this constituency. But after Burnham ran as a candidate, that vote share increased to about 55 percent.

Meanwhile, responding to Starmer’s latest resignation, Burnham confirmed that he would run to succeed him as Prime Minister.

Burnham said on social media, “Starmer has made a huge contribution to our country and I would like to thank him for his leadership and dedication at such a challenging time.”
He also said, “Starmer’s decision marks the beginning of a transition. It is very important that this process is carried out in an orderly and responsible manner. I will present myself as part of this process.”