Andy Burnham Appointed UK Prime Minister

Andy Burnham has been officially appointed Prime Minister of the United Kingdom after King Charles III invited him to form a government at Buckingham Palace on Monday, the palace confirmed.

In a statement, Buckingham Palace said: “His Majesty received in audience the Rt Hon Andrew Burnham MP and requested him to form a new administration.

The Rt Hon Andrew Burnham MP accepted The King’s offer and kissed hands upon his appointment as Prime Minister and First Lord of the Treasury.”

Burnham, 56, the former Mayor of Greater Manchester and newly elected Labour Party leader, becomes Britain’s seventh prime minister in a decade.

The appointment follows the resignation of Sir Keir Starmer, whose two-year tenure ended earlier on Monday after King Charles accepted his resignation at the palace.

Starmer came to power following Labour’s landslide general election victory in July 2024.

Burnham returns to national government after serving as Mayor of Greater Manchester from 2017 until his return to Parliament following his victory in the Makerfield by-election on 18 June.

He previously served as Secretary of State for Health under Prime Minister Gordon Brown and as Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport under Prime Minister Tony Blair.

He inherits a sluggish economy, overstretched public services, a cost of living squeeze, and the rising electoral threat of Nigel Farage’s Reform UK party ahead of the next general election.