Keir Starmer resigns as British Prime Minister: Andy Burnham is the favourite to succeed him as Labour leader

However, the ritual of political procedures fails to lend even a semblance of normality to an extraordinary situation: less than two years ago, Starmer led Labour to a resounding election victory, securing an overwhelming majority in Westminster. Having promised change and stability following the chaos of recent Tory governments, Starmer now finds himself – mutatis mutandis – in the same situation as Boris Johnson in 2022. Like the former Conservative Prime Minister, he has seen his popularity plummet in a short space of time and, above all, has lost the support of ministers and MPs.

After insisting for a long time that he wanted to remain in his post and challenge any challenger, Starmer realised last weekend that he had no support left and decided to step down with dignity. Unlike Johnson, who had lied to Parliament and the Queen and had breached both international agreements and the lockdown laws he himself had imposed, Starmer can point to some successes in the areas of the economy, healthcare, foreign policy and defence, and leave with his head held high.

It was Burnham’s triumph in by-election last Thursday that led to Starmer’s exit from the political scene. His victory, with 55 per cent of the vote in an area that had only last month, in the local elections, abandoned Labour and voted for Reform, confirmed his reputation as the “King of the North”, earned during his nearly ten years as mayor of Manchester. Burnham has not only confirmed his popularity, but also his status as the only Labour politician capable of defeating Reform, the right-wing, anti-EU and anti-immigration party founded by Nigel Farage, which has been leading the national polls for months. The spectre of Farage becoming Prime Minister in the next general election has led hundreds of Labour MPs to rally behind Burnham.

Today, Farage immediately called for a snap election, which is certainly not in the Labour Party’s interests. The roadmap set out by Starmer today allows Burnham and his team to get organised, find new allies amongst Labour MPs in Westminster and, above all, draw up a government programme and select his ministers.

The newly elected MP has a long history of party activism and previously served as a minister in the governments of Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, so he has a wealth of experience, but he has been away from London for ten years. It will not be easy to replicate on a national scale the undeniable success he has enjoyed in Manchester, where he has revitalised the economy and the city, not to mention the geopolitical situation he will have to manage. As things stand, Burnham appears to have no rivals: Wes Streeting, a former Health Secretary who had given the resignation in protest against the Starmer government’s inaction and announced his candidacy for Prime Minister; this morning, he has thrown his support behind Burnham, likely in exchange for a prestigious post in a future government. The King of the North looks set to become the King of Downing Street before long.