Less than two years ago, Labour party leader Keir Starmer spearheaded a historic victory in a British general election. He dragged his party from the morass of its worst ever electoral defeat in 2019 to a majority just marginally short of Tony Blair’s record in 1997.
On Monday morning, Starmer announced his decision to resign as prime minister, paving the way for in all likelihood Andy Burnham, until last week the mayor of Greater Manchester, to succeed him as Prime Minister.
Nominations for a competition will close on 9 July. Wes Streeting, who resigned from Starmer’s cabinet and was seen as a possible contender, has indicated he will now back Burnham.
Opinion polls signal Burnham is today the most popular politician in Britain, sharply contrasting with Starmer’s woeful unpopularity.
The assignment before Labour is to stave off the serious threat from Reform and to a certain extent from the Greens. Starmer was not visualised as being capable of overcoming this. Burnham is. He has considerable goodwill and momentum behind him.
