Andy Burnham becomes next UK Prime Minister

Former Greater Manchester Mayor, Andy Burnham is to become the next UK Prime Minister, after being confirmed as Leader of the Labour Party on Friday, 17th July.

Burnham (pictured during a BBC Breakfast interview during his tenure as Greater Manchester Mayor) was elected to Parliament following the Makerfield by-election earlier in June, and was the sole nominee to replace Sir Keir Starmer who announced his intention to step down as Prime Minister the following week.

Following a speech outside No 10 Downing Street, Sir Keir Starmer has met with King Charles III at Buckingham Palace to formally resign as Prime Minister. His Majesty The King then met with Andy Burnham to invite him to form a new government.

Sir Keir Starmer described becoming Prime Minister as the proudest moment in his life in his resignation speech last month. In his final speech in office, he highlighted his role in returning the Labour Party to power after 14 years in opposition at the 2024 General Election, as well as declaring his full support for his successor.

Following his meeting with the King, Andy Burnham has become the UK’s sixth Prime Minister in 10 years and will begin announcing his new Cabinet, and begin setting out new policies from 21st July.

Following Andy Burnham’s election to Parliament last month, he has stepped down as Mayor of Greater Manchester, and a by-election to choose his successor is now underway in the city-region.

While the deadline for residents in Stockport and across Greater Manchester to register to vote, or apply for a postal vote in this election has passed, applications to apply for a proxy vote and to receive free voter ID remain open until 5pm on 22nd July.

The election, taking place on Thursday July 30^th, 2026 will use the Supplementary Voting system. It was used at the Mayoral elections in 2017 and 2021, but not in 2024, which used the same first-past-the-post as is used in General Elections. Using Supplementary Voting means that residents have the opportunity to choose their first and second-choice candidate.

If any candidate gets more than 50% of the first-choice votes, then they will be elected as the Mayor of Greater Manchester. If no candidate receives more than 50% of the first-choice votes, the contest will move to a second round between the two candidates who received the most first-choice votes. Any remaining candidates are eliminated, and these ballot papers are counted again. Any second-choice votes cast for the two remaining candidates are then added to their first-choice totals.

Seven candidates will be on the ballot paper when voters across the city region go to the polls: listed alphabetically by surname, as they will appear in the ballot paper, they are:

• ASTLEY, Sian Niamh (Reform UK)
• COGGINS, Geraldine (The Green Party)
• CRAIG, Bev (Labour and Co-operative Party)
• ECKERSLEY, Phil (The Conservative Party Candidate)
• FARMER, Marcus Jonathan (Independent)
• KILPATRICK, Richard Martin (Liberal Democrats)
• WEST, Marlon Scott (Restore Britain)