UPDATE: Burnham could be UK PM within weeks as emotional Starmer quits
Andy Burnham could become UK prime minister within weeks after Wes Streeting announced he would not enter the race to succeed Keir Starmer.
The former Greater Manchester mayor confirmed he would stand for the Labour leadership shortly after Starmer pledged an ‘orderly handover of power’ in an emotional statement outside Number 10.
His chances of winning the premiership unopposed were boosted significantly minutes later when former health secretary Wes Streeting said he would back Burnham in the upcoming contest.
Streeting had been viewed as a potential leadership rival to Burnham, but his decision not to enter the contest paves the way for a coronation as early as mid-July.
Announcing he would bid for the party leadership, Burnham said Starmer’s resignation ‘marks the beginning of a transition’.
He said: ‘The Labour movement has always been at its strongest when it looks forward with confidence and purpose.
‘This is what we will do from here and we will make sure this transition is a positive process of renewal for our party and our country.’
Giving his support to the new Makerfield MP, Streeting said he had spoken with Burnham ‘at length’ and concluded he could ‘win the fight of our lives against the forces of nationalism’.
He added: ‘We could spend the summer exaggerating small differences, or we can roll up our sleeves and help him to deliver the change our party and our country needs.’
By Press Association Political Staff
Press Association: News
source: PA
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