Burnham Poised for Power in UK After Starmer Agrees to Step Down

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“The question my party is asking now is whether I am best placed to lead us into the next general election. I have heard the answer of my parliamentary party,” Starmer said in Downing Street, adding that he accepted their verdict of him with “good grace.” 

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What Bloomberg Economics Says…

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“The key thing to watch will be his cabinet appointments, particularly his choice of chancellor. Appointing a more left-leaning figure such as Energy Secretary Ed Miliband could signal a greater willingness to increase spending. By contrast, selecting someone like Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood or Streeting would suggest fiscal discipline remains a priority. 

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—Antonio Barroso (Analyst) and Dan Hanson (economist). Read the full REACT on the Terminal. 

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Starmer said nominations to succeed him as Labour Party would close on July 16 with any contest decided by Sept. 1. It seems likely Burnham has the requisite 81 nominations, and if If no other challenger steps forward he could be prime minister by the next day, July 17. 

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Whoever succeeds Starmer will become Britain’s fifth prime minister since 2022 and its seventh since the Brexit referendum in 2016: A jarring milestone for a political system that once prided itself on its stability. Burnham made clear he intended to vie for the job if he secured a return to Westminster nine years after leaving to take up the mayoralty. Once sworn in as an MP, he will automatically lose the mayoralty, triggering an election in Manchester, as well.

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Farage on Monday called for a general election, saying on X that his party stood “ready to deliver radical change.” Main opposition Conservative Party Leader Kemi Badenoch said Starmer had been a “terrible prime minister,” while Ed Davey, leader of Parliament’s third party, the Liberal Democrats, said “the British people are sick of being let down by an endless merry-go-round of Prime Ministers while nothing really changes.”

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Before Starmer emerged from No. 10 on Monday morning, staff lined up outside, including a few key allies of the premier such as Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy, Chief Secretary to the Prime Minister Darren Jones and Attorney General Richard Hermer. Then, as the prime minister began to speak, protesters on nearby Whitehall blared out the choral strains of Beethoven’s Ode to Joy, the anthem of the European Union, which Britain voted to leave a decade ago this Tuesday. 

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Starmer began his intervention with a summary of his successes in turning around a Labour Party that six years ago, he said was “politically, financially, and morally bankrupt.” “The hard work of change was with a singular purpose, not power for power’s sake, but to change Britain for the better, to build a fairer country with dignity and respect,” Starmer said. 

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He pointed to a strengthening economy, falling National Health Service waiting lists, improved workers’ rights and half a million children lifted out of poverty as key successes, as well as Britain’s support for Ukraine and the strengthening of ties with the EU some six years after Brexit was completed. 

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He offered his successor his “full and unequivocal support, knowing that they will inherit a Britain that is far stronger and fairer than the one I inherited two years ago, better prepared for the challenges ahead and better able to ensure the Labour Party secures a second term in office.”

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Then the premier’s voice faltered as he thanked his family and said he would devote more time to them after resigning. 

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—With assistance from Chloe Chaplain, Ellen Milligan, Alex Wickham and Jacob Reid.

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