Andy Burnham appointed UK prime minister after Keir Starmer resigns: 'We must be better'

A transitional day at Buckingham Palace

On the morning of 20 July 2026, outgoing Prime Minister Keir Starmer delivered his final address from Downing Street before travelling to Buckingham Palace to tender his resignation to King Charles III. The audience with the monarch lasted approximately 30 minutes, after which the Palace confirmed that Sir Keir Starmer had formally resigned as Prime Minister and First Lord of the Treasury. Immediately afterwards, the King received the Right Honourable Andy Burnham MP and invited him to form a new government. Burnham accepted and was sworn in as Prime Minister.

Burnham’s pledge: honesty and renewal

Standing outside No. 10, the newly appointed prime minister delivered his first speech without notes and in a suit and tie, a departure from the more casual style often seen in his earlier public appearances. He addressed public frustration directly.

The people in their homes are tired and disillusioned with politics. I want to be honest with you: we haven’t been good enough and we must become better. And we will.

Burnham laid out his immediate priorities: decentralising more powers to the regions, tackling the cost-of-living crisis, strengthening public services, and restoring trust in politics. He spoke of a message of “hope” and a break from the past, acknowledging that politicians “must raise our standards.”

Starmer’s departure after two years

Keir Starmer exited with a conciliatory tone, telling the public he was “proud of all we have accomplished” and that the United Kingdom was “stronger and fairer than it was two years ago.” He added that he was leaving “with a smile” and without bitterness. The resignation followed intense internal party pressure, despite the comfortable parliamentary majority he had secured for Labour in the 2024 general election. The party replaced him as leader on Friday, with Burnham emerging as the successor.

Britain’s revolving door: the sixth prime minister in a decade

The handover reinforces a period of chronic political turnover. Since the 2016 Brexit referendum, the United Kingdom has now seen six prime ministers: David Cameron, Theresa May, Boris Johnson, Liz Truss, Rishi Sunak, Keir Starmer and now Andy Burnham. The most dramatic tenure was that of Liz Truss, who lasted just 49 days in the autumn of 2022. Burnham, 56, a former mayor of Greater Manchester, becomes the latest Labour figure asked to reverse the party’s declining poll ratings, which have been eroded by the surging populist right led by Nigel Farage.

What comes next

Later on 20 July, Burnham is expected to announce the composition of his cabinet, which will be the first test of the political balance he intends to strike within the Labour Party and across the country.