Selected, Not Elected – Andy Burnham Gets the Keys to No. 10

‘I go with good grace, I go with a smile and I go proud of everything that we have achieved.’

– Keir Starmer bids goodbye to No. 10.

I suppose Starmer has a right to his own opinion as he officially exits the Prime Minister’s office.

I’ve done my best to keep up with what he’s botched. Consequently, last week, I was accused of being a Britain-basher on X – never saying anything good about the country by someone claiming to be a British citizen. After I took a moment to point out that, as an American, I say plenty good and sympathetic about the average Brit – it’s the sucktastic leadership I am always on – I took a moment to peruse the complainant’s own X feed, and, well, what do you know?

It was not full of ‘Hail Britannia!’ pieces, but packed, jammed full of the very articles and analyses I myself linked to, but with his own British comments (very carefully, mind you, and I wonder why, right?) attached to the Xweets.

So, yeah – I spun that sucker back on the hypocrite like a dump truck.

And now, here that Starmer has finally slunk from the residence, there are going to be plenty of ‘don’t let the door hit yous,’ especially after his deluded adieu. Especially since it’s relatively safe at the moment. Never discount that.

Keir Starmer leaves the country in a terrible state

You get two impressions of Britain at the moment. First, that nothing works. Second, that the state is not on the side of those who try to work for a living and generally do the right thing, but on the side of those who intend to ride on the backs of others and generally take the mick. Keir Starmer today leaves the country in a worse place on both counts. Let us take them in turn.

Starmer did not cause the broken state but, as one of the bureaucracy’s chief princelings, he has done nothing to fix it. He got as far as a few pointed words and sacking his cabinet secretary, Chris Wormald (only to elevate him to the Lords in his final days of office. Such is the gilded life of a mandarin). But of serious attempted reform of the civil service and public services, there was none.

What of the other charge, that of unfairness? Starmer has hiked taxes on work while continuing lavish handouts. We are forecasted to have more people claiming long-term disability benefits than ever before. Even the Economist now reports on the madness of council house tenants effectively being subsidised to the tune of £32,000 per household per year to live in Kensington and Chelsea. Meanwhile, debt-laden graduates in top jobs are relegated to flat shares in scuzzy outer zones.

Hasta la vista, W****r.

BREAKING: Keir Starmer departs 10 Downing Street for the final time as Britain’s prime minister after officially resigning.

Following a farewell ceremony outside No. 10, Starmer leaves office as former Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham is formally appointed as the new prime minister… pic.twitter.com/zy6N6GkOYs

— Fox News (@FoxNews) July 20, 2026

As Starmer was officially resigning, the new guy was officially being welcomed, making it, well, official.

Andy Burnham accepts the invitation from King Charles and officially becomes UK’s new Prime Minister. pic.twitter.com/8eubxrmYmT

— Dancing Moon (@tina_dancing) July 20, 2026

Into No. 10 Downing Street trips Andy Burnham, the former mayor of Greater Manchester and the recently elected member of Parliament, in an utterly contrived vacancy to make sure Burnham met the last qualification to fill the Prime Minister’s spot. You see, most everyone in Labour was looking to him as some sort of savior to move Starmer out, but he wasn’t an MP. They found a willing dupe in a Labour-heavy district to step aside during the recent local elections, so Burnham could scratch that last thing off his list.

The few Labourites who had pretensions to the throne faded gracefully away (party members can challenge a prime minister’s leadership if they have the votes of a fifth of the party’s House of Commons membership). The presumed incoming prime minister, selected by his party (as opposed to being the victorious party leader in a national election) and enabled through their own machinations to meet the necessary qualifications, prepared to take over. 

…Burnham was the only candidate to secure enough support from his fellow Labour lawmakers to replace Starmer as leader of the governing party. Because Labour holds a majority in government, its leader also becomes the U.K. prime minister.

Burnham received support from 379 out of 401 Labour Party lawmakers, and was announced Labour leader at a special party conference on Friday. He officially became prime minister on Monday, when he met King Charles III at Buckingham Palace for a formal go-ahead.

…Britain’s parliamentary democracy allows governing parties to change leaders midterm, with the winner becoming prime minister without the need for a general election. Prime ministers can be replaced if one has resigned as leader of their party, or been forced out by a leadership challenge.

The next national election does not have to be held until 2029, five years from the last election in 2024.

Shortly after meeting with King Charles, the new prime minister and his wife arrived at No. 10, and, whatever one’s feelings about Burnham’s politics (which have an even more leftward tilt than Starmer’s), everyone who watched couldn’t help but comment on the change in style.

New UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham delivers a message of reset in his first speech outside 10 Downing Street after accepting the King’s invitation to form a government.

Burnham becomes Britain’s seventh prime minister since 2016, underscoring the political instability he says… pic.twitter.com/vgHrHLbaL4

— Fox News (@FoxNews) July 20, 2026

…Burnham becomes Britain’s seventh prime minister since 2016, underscoring the political instability he says the country must move beyond. 

“I hear you and I want to be honest with you. We have not been good enough and we need to be better.”

It’s night and day, and most definitely, advantage Burnham.

Ironically, Keir Starmer’s lack of soul and robotic behaviour made him very easy to hate, and helped the British opposition. He was the awkward, inhuman face of failure.

Andy Burnham however is the kind of tyrant who appears likeable from a distance. He manages to at least look… pic.twitter.com/9wRHNhsDWr

— 𝐍𝐢𝐨𝐡 𝐁𝐞𝐫𝐠 🇮🇷 ✡︎ (@NiohBerg) July 20, 2026

…Andy Burnham however is the kind of tyrant who appears likeable from a distance. He manages to at least look normal, despite his horrible politics. Even as he makes everything worse, he isn’t repulsive to the average person the way Starmer is. At least so far.

Andy will go HARD on being charismatic and friendly to act as a shield for unpopular Labour bullshit as they shove down even more misery down everyone’s throats.

And he will be harder to attack than Starmer, because Starmer was uniquely detestable not just in his policies but also his personality.

Burnham’s made a few moves that have already somewhat calmed the markets’ initial terror at the thought of his ascendancy. Instead of the NetZero lunatic energy minister Ed Miliband as chancellor of the exchequer, he’s tapped Home Secretary Shabana Mahmoud for the job. Financial markets are reacting with a ‘sigh of relief’ at the ‘least damaging option on the table.’

…Nigel Green of deVere Group’s comments come as sterling holds near a 13-month high against the euro and close to $1.35 against the dollar, gilt yields sit around 4.95% having eased back from a two-month high, and the FTSE 100 trades essentially flat just above 10,500, with investors having already priced in Burnham’s arrival and rallied hard last week on reports that Shabana Mahmood, seen as the fiscally cautious choice, will take the Treasury over Ed Miliband. 

He says: “Calm markets this morning tell you nothing about what comes next.

“What we’re looking at is relief that the worst-case Chancellor did not get appointed, not confidence in the platform Burnham is bringing into Downing Street.

“Investors and wealthy families need to understand this distinction before they read this stability as a green light.” 

Nigel Green warns the current pause reflects a market betting on personnel, not policy.

He says: “Sterling didn’t rally because investors trust Burnham’s fiscal instincts. It rallied because Mahmood was seen as the least damaging option on the table.

Burnham has, as most of you who have read our reports know, quite a challenge ahead of him.

…So what awaits Burnham? He’s inheriting an economy that’s starting to creak under pressure from rising energy prices and borrowing costs. After the bumper start to the year, when GDP expanded 0.6%, growth is expected to slow in the second quarter back to the more pedestrian pace that’s dogged Burnham’s predecessors.

It may be some time before the pressure on household finances can be alleviated, with real wages growing only slightly and interest-rate cuts by the Bank of England off the table for now.

The new prime minister is already causing a wicked case of whiplash as far as his energy policies go. Not two days ago, there were tentative, hopeful squeaks coming out of those who depend on the North Sea for their livelihood and those in the UK who have had to pay the price for Miliband’s insane climate cult militancy that those days might be over.

Burnham to announce plans for new North Sea oil and gas drilling

Andy Burnham will announce plans for new oil and gas drilling in the North Sea after he becomes prime minister, the BBC has been told.

The Labour Party’s 2024 manifesto – which the new leader said he would follow – had pledged to issue no new licences but to honour existing ones.

At the heart of the debate are two oil and gas fields in Scotland – Rosebank and Jackdaw – which regulators approved in 2022 and 2023 under the then Conservative government, but were overturned in 2025 after a legal challenge.

The announcement will form part of a flurry of measures from Burnham including plans to take water and energy companies under public control and a new council house-building programme.

He is also expected to outline new measures that will give “people breathing space on the cost of living” and intends to make a “dynamic start… focused on delivering tangible change to people’s lives as soon as possible”.

Well, the Labour lunatic pressure started building. Everyone and their mother was quoting that dang ‘Labour manifesto pledge’ again.

Burnham risks Labour backlash if he reverses ban on new oil and gas drilling

Party manifesto pledged to honour existing North Sea exploration licences but not issue new ones

Andy Burnham risks his first confrontation with Labour MPs if he announces new oil and gas drilling licences when he becomes prime minister, insiders have warned.

Speculation is rife that Burnham will unveil fresh plans for drilling in the North Sea after he is installed in Downing Street.

Although earlier reports suggested details of his proposals could come as soon as Monday, a decision is now expected to be taken at a later date.

Burnham’s team has not confirmed the details of its North Sea plans and whether they would involve new exploration licences or so-called “tiebacks” – where offshore oil and gasfields are connected to already approved production facilities via pipelines.

In Labour’s 2024 manifesto, it pledged to honour existing exploration licences but not issue new ones.

And, oopsie.

Here we are just a few hours ago.

Burnham back peddles his position on North Sea oil and gas within 24 hours

BBC reported all yday he would approve new licences

Today the FT briefed he won’t

Burnham has blown the UK’s chance at cheap and abundant energy

Unclear whether he will approve Jackdaw/Rosebank pic.twitter.com/wTsVBBIRm3

— Ross Kempsell (@RossKempsell) July 19, 2026

Burnham yanked the energy football.

 

This is probably not a great start just as things kick off for the new prime minister-select. Trump had congratulated Burnham on his common-sense move.

President Donald Trump praised new British Prime Minister Andy Burnham and predicted a booming future for the United Kingdom’s energy sector, arguing that greater North Sea oil production would boost the economy and reduce reliance on imports.

In a post on Truth Social, Trump claimed people were “dancing in the streets” over Burnham’s reported stance on North Sea oil and said Burnham would be “opening up, all the way, the invaluable North Sea Oil,” arguing that a dramatic surge in domestic production would revitalize the British economy and reduce its dependence on foreign imports.

I can’t wait to hear what our president thinks if this reversal holds up.

Burnham still has a lot of work to do, putting together his cabinet as he dumps some of the worst offenders from Starmer’s.

🚨 BREAKING

‘David Lammy has left the Government.’

Political Editor @ChristopherHope reports as Deputy Prime Minister, and Justice Secretary, David Lammy leaves the Government as Andy Burnham reshuffles the Cabinet. pic.twitter.com/yjP7gbBT9f

— GB News (@GBNEWS) July 20, 2026

So far he looks and sounds good, but Burnham’s ground game is shaky. 

It’s going to be interesting.

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