Burnham met King Charles III at Buckingham Palace earlier in the day, in the ceremony known as kissing hands, and that's the exact moment he officially became prime minister.Starmer had gone to the palace first,telling reporters outside Downing Street that his work is done before handing in his resignation to the king. His exit came after months of bad polling, weak local election results and a scandal tied to former US ambassador Peter Mandelson and Jeffrey Epstein that just wouldn't go away.The 56 year old former mayor of Greater Manchester ran unopposed for the Labour leadership, picking up nominations from 379 of the party's 403 lawmakers. And he only returned to Parliament last month, winning a special election after years running Greater Manchester from the outside. Burnham spent 16 years as an MP before that, holding cabinet posts under Tony Blair and Gordon Brown. Standing outside his new home at Downing Street, he said his generation of politicians needs to raise its game and admitted things simply haven't been good enough.
People already call him the King of the North,and it's not hard to see why.
Burnham said he wants politics to feel less toxic and promised to bring back the hope people feel they've lost. He's set to announce cost of living measures on Tuesday, just a day after taking office,and Starmer leaves after barely two years,the fifth prime minister in four years to walk out of Downing Street on a Monday like this one.The next general election isn't due until 2029.
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