{"id":129099,"date":"2026-07-09T18:29:51","date_gmt":"2026-07-09T13:29:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/?p=129099"},"modified":"2026-07-09T18:29:52","modified_gmt":"2026-07-09T13:29:52","slug":"labour-leadership-contest-takes-andy-burnham-closer-to-uk-pms-office","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/129099\/","title":{"rendered":"Labour leadership contest takes Andy Burnham closer to UK PM&#8217;s office"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Web desk(National Times)- Veteran politician Andy Burnham took another step towards becoming the UK\u2019s next prime minister on Thursday as nominations to replace Keir Starmer as Labour leader formally opened.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The 56-year-old is the only Labour member of parliament to have publicly said he is a candidate to succeed Starmer, who announced he was&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.dawn.com\/news\/2009971\">quitting&nbsp;<\/a>last month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Burnham will need to show that he has the support of 81 of Labour\u2019s 402 MPs to become a formal candidate, a tally that he is expected to surpass easily.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">All eyes will be on whether an alternative candidate can muster the required support to challenge Burnham, nicknamed the \u201cKing of the North\u201d for winning three consecutive Greater Manchester mayoral elections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If no one sparks a contest, then Burnham will be crowned Labour leader \u2014 and prime minister in waiting \u2014 at a special conference on July 17.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Burnham would then replace Starmer at 10 Downing Street three days later.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If a contest does take place, then the victor will be announced on August 29 following a ballot of Labour members and affiliated unions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Burnham\u2019s path to Downing Street, however, looked increasingly assured late on Wednesday after former armed forces minister Al Carns ruled himself out of the running.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Carns had said he had hoped a leadership contest would give the party the \u201copportunity for a proper debate\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cBut months of internal Labour politics isn\u2019t what the country needs right now. We\u2019ve got to get on with the job,\u201d he said, throwing his support behind Burnham.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Burnham vowed in a keynote speech in June to \u201cbring about the biggest rebalancing of power our country has seen\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He pledged to put power \u201cin the hands of the people and places who can use it best\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe need a new determination to raise the living standards of every single person in this land,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cAnd 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.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Starmer, under pressure for months over policy U-turns and questions about his judgement, announced on June 22 that he was resigning after losing the support of Labour MPs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">His move came after Burnham had&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.dawn.com\/news\/2009381\">won<\/a>&nbsp;a by-election that allowed him to return to parliament to launch a widely expected leadership challenge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">On the day Starmer&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.dawn.com\/news\/2009971\">announced<\/a>&nbsp;his resignation, Burnham was sworn into parliament, becoming an MP again following his stint between 2001 and 2017.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dawn.com\/news\/2014108\/labour-leadership-contest-takes-andy-burnham-closer-to-uk-pms-office#breath-of-fresh-air\"><\/a>\u2018Breath of fresh air\u2019<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Afterwards, some 200 Labour MPs feted Burnham during a group photo in Westminster, in a clear sign that they expect him to take over.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Former health minister Wes Streeting announced he was dropping his intention to run and backing Burnham.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Burnham \u2014 seen as slightly to the left of the more centrist Starmer \u2014 is Labour\u2019s most popular politician, surveys show.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Many MPs feel he is the party\u2019s best chance of clawing back support from Nigel Farage\u2019s&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.dawn.com\/news\/1937511\">anti-immigrant<\/a>&nbsp;Reform UK party before the next general election, expected in 2029.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Reform has led Labour in national opinion polls for well over a year, although the gap has narrowed in recent weeks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Burnham has pledged fiscal discipline and to reduce the country\u2019s ballooning welfare bill, having already sought to calm markets by committing to the government\u2019s current borrowing limits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And he has also proposed the creation of a \u201cNo. 10 North\u201d to coordinate a devolution \u2014 a play on words on the UK prime minister\u2019s address at 10 Downing Street.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">One Labour MP, who asked not to be named, said the party was right to \u201croll the dice\u201d on Burnham, saying \u201che couldn\u2019t be worse than Starmer\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI hope he\u2019s a breath of fresh air,\u201d the lawmaker told&nbsp;<em>AFP<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Another, also speaking on condition of anonymity, said he backed Burnham but was concerned that Burnham will only have a few weeks to prepare for government.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Web desk(National Times)- Veteran politician Andy Burnham took another step towards becoming the UK\u2019s next prime minister on Thursday as nominations to replace Keir Starmer as Labour leader formally opened. The 56-year-old is the only Labour member of parliament to have publicly said he is a candidate to succeed Starmer, who announced he was&nbsp;quitting&nbsp;last month. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":129100,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-129099","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-international","entry"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Labour leadership contest takes Andy Burnham closer to UK PM&#039;s office - Nation<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/129099\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Labour leadership contest takes Andy Burnham closer to UK PM&#039;s office - Nation\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Web desk(National Times)- Veteran politician Andy Burnham took another step towards becoming the UK\u2019s next prime minister on Thursday as nominations to replace Keir Starmer as Labour leader formally opened. 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