London, July 20: Former Manchester Mayor, Andrew Burnham, was appointed Prime Minister of the U.K. on Monday (July 20, 2026), its seventh in a decade. Mr. Burnham described the moment as a “circuit breaker”, as he promised to usher in a new political and social model for the country, taking power out of London and spreading it across the regions of the U.K.

The outgoing Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who had made history two years ago, when he led the Labour Party in one of the largest victories in modern times, made history again on Monday (July 20, 2026), but this time for becoming the U.K.’s shortest serving Labour Prime Minister.

“I go with good grace, I go with a smile, and I go proud of everything that we have achieved,” Mr. Starmer said in brief remarks outside on Downing Street, as he wished his successor “every success”.

“We will make this moment a circuit breaker for Britain, bringing forward the biggest changes in the last 40 years: a new political model and a new economic model,” Mr. Burnham said outside No.10 Downing Street, minutes after he was ceremonially invited to form a government by Britain’s Monarch King Charles III. Mr Burnham’s wife, the Dutch-born Marie-France van Heel, was also present as were large numbers of the Prime Minister’s supporters, including his mother and Josh Simons, the MP who vacated his Makerfield seat, so Mr Burnham could win it and return to Westminster.

“I am acutely conscious that I am … the seventh Prime Minister since 2016, making this a moment for reflection and new resolution,” Mr. Burnham said, adding that Britain needed to show the world it could regain its stability. He went on to add that the U.K. had taken wrong turns since the 1980s, by privatizing economic power and centralizing political power.-Agencies