A quick guide to Andy Burnham: the journey so far

He looks all set

What this means is that he we will become the UK’s prime minister very soon, and the seventh in the last 10 years.

Burnham became leader of Labour on Friday (17 July) but it’s three days later, on Monday (July 20) when he becomes prime minister.

On Monday, the process will start with Starmer meeting King Charles to formally offer his resignation as prime minister.

Then, soon afterwards the King will meet Burnham and he will ask him to form a government.

Burnham will officially become the UK’s prime minister after he has accepted.

While both meetings usually happen at Buckingham Palace, Burnham will then head to Downing Street, where he is likely to give a speech outside No 10.

How Burnham got to the position of PM

While Keir Starmer won a landslide general election victory two years ago, he started losing public support within weeks of arriving in Downing Street after a series of policy missteps and U-turns.

For many MPs in the Labour Party, the final straw was when right wing party Reform UK swept the board at local elections in May.

This left many of them fearing Reform leader Nigel Farage would win the next general election.

Burnham, who returned to Parliament a month ago in a by-election with his victory over the Reform candidate, convinced many Labour MPs he was the right candidate to replace Starmer

He had long had ambitions to be Labour leader, but could only challenge for the top job as a sitting MP.

How the prime minister is elected in the UK

Unlike countries like the US or France, in the UK prime ministers are not directly elected.

Instead, they are the leaders of the party with the most MPs in the House of Commons.

What this means, as you were probably aware by now, is that the UK can change prime ministers without an election.

In recent years this has happened with increasing frequency.

And even if Burnham could call a general election when he takes over as prime minister, he seems to have ruled that out.

Burnham has set out a number of policy ideas during his very recent by-election campaign, and with him as the next prime minister you may notice differences when it comes to your bank account, among other things.