LONDON: Veteran politician Andy Burnham moved a step closer to becoming the United Kingdom’s next prime minister on Thursday as nominations officially opened for the election of a new Labour leader to replace Keir Starmer.
The 56-year-old is currently the only Labour lawmaker to publicly declare his candidacy for the leadership contest after Starmer announced last month that he would step down from the party leadership.
Burnham will need the backing of 81 out of Labour’s 402 MPs to become an official candidate, a target he is widely expected to surpass.
Attention will now focus on whether any rival candidate can gather enough support to challenge Burnham, who has earned the nickname “King of the North” after winning three consecutive elections as Greater Manchester mayor.
If no other candidate enters the race, Burnham will automatically become Labour leader and prime minister-in-waiting at a special party conference scheduled for July 17.
He would then replace Starmer at 10 Downing Street three days later.
However, if a leadership contest takes place, the winner will be announced on August 29 following a vote by Labour members and affiliated trade unions.
Burnham’s route to the leadership appeared increasingly certain on Wednesday after former armed forces minister Al Carns withdrew from consideration.
Carns had previously said he hoped a leadership contest would provide an opportunity for a meaningful debate within the party, but later said that prolonged internal politics was not what the country needed.
“Months of internal Labour politics isn’t what the country needs right now. We’ve got to get on with the job,” Carns said as he backed Burnham’s candidacy.
In a major speech in June, Burnham pledged to deliver “the biggest rebalancing of power our country has seen”, promising to put authority in the hands of people and communities best placed to use it.
“We need a new determination to raise the living standards of every single person in this land,” he said.
“And we must accept that to do that, to fix the economy and the country, we need to change politics and we need to do it now,” he added.
Starmer, who had faced months of pressure over policy reversals and questions about his leadership decisions, announced on June 22 that he was resigning after losing the confidence of Labour MPs.
His resignation came shortly after Burnham won a by-election that allowed him to return to parliament and launch what had been widely expected to become a leadership challenge.
On the same day Starmer announced his resignation, Burnham was sworn in as an MP again after previously representing a parliamentary seat from 2001 to 2017.
‘A breath of fresh air’
Following his return to parliament, around 200 Labour MPs gathered with Burnham for a group photograph in Westminster, signalling their expectation that he would succeed Starmer.
Former health secretary Wes Streeting also announced that he was withdrawing his leadership ambitions and supporting Burnham.
Surveys suggest Burnham, who is viewed as slightly to the left of the more centrist Starmer, is Labour’s most popular politician.
Many Labour MPs believe he could help the party regain support from Nigel Farage’s anti-immigration Reform UK party ahead of the next general election, expected in 2029.
Reform UK has led Labour in national opinion polls for more than a year, although its advantage has narrowed in recent weeks.
Burnham has pledged to maintain fiscal discipline and reduce the country’s rising welfare costs, while also reassuring financial markets by committing to the government’s existing borrowing limits.
He has also proposed establishing a “No. 10 North” office to coordinate greater devolution of powers, using a reference to the prime minister’s official address at 10 Downing Street.
One Labour MP, who spoke on condition of anonymity, 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 lawmaker told AFP.
Another Labour MP, also speaking anonymously, said he supported Burnham but expressed concern that he would have only a few weeks to prepare for government if he became prime minister.