Can Andy Burnham become Britain’s next Prime Minister? Key facts explained

Andy Burnham will reportedly take over from Sir Keir Starmer as Labour leader on Friday after gaining the endorsement of the party’s MPs.

The 56-year-old abandoned a 20-year climb up the Labour Party ladder in London, heading north to run for mayor of Greater Manchester.

Burnham becomes Labour Leader, but he will not become prime minister until Monday. The process will officially begin on Monday with Starmer meeting King Charles to formally submit his resignation as prime minister. 

Starmer won a resounding victory two years ago, but he began losing public support within weeks of arriving in Downing Street after a series of policy U-turns.

The breaking point for many Labour MPs was when the right-wing party Reform UK swept the board at local elections, leaving many of them fearing Reform leader Nigel Farage, winning the next general election.

Burnham has said that he will comply with the commitments that Labour was elected on in 2024, specifically the pledge not to raise the main rates of income tax, VAT or National Insurance. He gained the significant parliamentary platform he needed to launch a potential bid for the prime ministership.

Andy Burnham has remarkably won the Makerfield by-election against the Reform-the party in second place by securing more than 9,000 votes.

Flouting established norms, he also increased Labor’s vote share in the area by 10 points. Burnham said in his victory speech: “Everyone knows that politics is not working.”

Burham’s achievement means to initiate an event to either participate in Starmer's resignation or launch a leadership contest, pitting the prime minister against both the gregarious mayor and the former health secretary, Wes Streeting. Notably, Starmer has faced increasing demands to step back in the wake of public dissatisfaction with his leadership.

For those unversed, Burnham is married to Marie-France Van Heel. Their journey began with their first meeting at Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge in 1989.

They have been together for more than 30 years and married since the early 2000s. Van Heel has long worked in marketing and strategy for many years and has also been involved in designing logs for the BBC and England Rugby.

Burnham educational background

He was born in Liverpool in 1970 and grew up in Cheshire and is a lifelong Everton fan who is passionate about sports. Burnham became an MP for the first time in 2001. Burnham stated that he had always had special plans to return to Westminster to “complete that unfinished business so the north of England could fulfill its potential.”

Nonetheless, Burnham keeps a sharp eye out for opportunities and his approach seeks to utilize private and public money to invest in key areas like transport, housing, and infrastructure.