What you need to know as Andy Burnham prepares to become UK Prime Minister

Starmer won a general election two years ago – but within weeks of his arrival in Downing Street he began to lose public support after a series of policy missteps and cycles.

When the right-wing Reform UK passed the Local Electoral Board in May, the last straw for many Labor MPs, many feared that Reform leader Nigel Farage would win the next general election.

Burnham had ambitions to become Labor leader – but only ran for the top job as a sitting MP.

He was returned to parliament in a by-election a month ago, after his victory over the Reform candidate convinced many Labor MPs that he was the right candidate to replace Starmer.

Other senior Labor chiefs, such as former health secretary Wes Streeting, have abandoned their own leadership ambitions and joined Burnham with most of the party’s MPs.

It means he will become Labor leader without a contest.

In the UK, prime ministers are not directly elected, unlike the presidents of the US or France – they are the leaders of the party with the majority of MPs in the House of Commons.

This means the UK can change prime ministers without an election – something that has become increasingly common in recent years.

A general election could be called when Burnham takes over as prime minister, but he appears to have ruled that out.