Andy Burnham will become the United Kingdom’s new prime minister on Tuesday after meeting King Charles III at Buckingham Palace. He is taking over from Keir Starmer, who announced last month that he would resign. Burnham became the new leader of the Labour Party on Saturday and will now lead the government. He is the seventh UK prime minister since 2016.
On Tuesday, Starmer will visit the King to officially resign. Soon afterwards, Burnham will meet King Charles III, who will invite him to form a government. This tradition is called “kissing hands”, even though no hand-kissing happens today. The King no longer has political power but still officially asks the leader of the biggest governing party to become prime minister. After the ceremony, Burnham will travel to Downing Street to give his first speech as the country’s new leader.
Burnham has promised to make politics “less toxic”, improve living standards and bring back hope for people across the UK. He has also said he wants to restore stability after many changes of prime minister over the past ten years. Experts say he will need strong economic growth to achieve many of his goals. People are also waiting to see who he will choose for important jobs in his Cabinet.
Keir Starmer congratulated Burnham and said he hopes the new leader will build on the work already completed. Before leaving office, Starmer said he was proud of his government’s support for Ukraine, stronger rights for workers, efforts to reduce child poverty and increased defence spending. Burnham now begins the challenge of leading the country and turning his promises into action.
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