Andy Burnham to be made UK Labour leader on way to becoming prime minister

He has given one speech since returning to parliament last month after winning a parliamentary seat in Makerfield, the start of a four-week process to install him as prime minister and remove Starmer, whose unpopularity across Britain turned his lawmakers against him.

In it, he sketched out some of his domestic agenda, saying he wanted to oversee the “biggest rebalancing of power” from London to Britain’s regions – something he believes will reduce inequality and the anger felt by “left-behind communities” who have increasingly flocked to Reform.

That message of having a plan to thwart the rise of Reform won over Labour lawmakers, who feared they would lose their parliamentary seats to veteran Brexit campaigner Nigel Farage’s populist party at the next national election, due by 2029. Reform has topped opinion polls for months.

Some of that sheen has been tarnished in recent weeks by Farage’s acceptance of funds from wealthy donors, perhaps giving Burnham an opening to revive Labour’s fortunes.

Yet he does not have much time.

With a general election no more than three years away, Burnham will need to start implementing some of his pledges, many of which are based on long-term thinking, as quickly as possible.

Nigel Wilcock, executive director at the Institute of Economic Development, an independent body representing economic development professionals, said Burnham had spent years making the case for a different approach to economic growth:

“The challenge is turning that vision into a reality.”