Starmer wants an ‘orderly’ transfer with Burnham

Sir Keir Starmer has spoken to Andy Burnham on Tuesday as he seeks to ensure an “orderly” transition after announcing his resignation as Prime Minister.

It is the first time the pair have met since Burnham won last week’s Makersfield by-election.

The hour-long meeting, which It was first reported in The Times., ExternalIt comes as Sir Kerr has approved access talks with the civil servant for the Labor leadership of the government.

Burnham is the only candidate to have emerged so far and could become prime minister by July 17 if unopposed.

Communication speeches are given to opposition party leaders before general elections.

A spokesman for the Prime Minister said access talks would begin “as soon as possible” and before formal nominations for any Labor leadership contests close on July 16.

A spokesman for the Prime Minister added that the discussion will “focus on government formation and key policy issues and will also include security briefings.”

Burnham said he didn’t know if access talks were routinely requested.

This comes after Sir Kerr announced he would be stepping down as Prime Minister less than two years after losing the support of Labor MPs.

At a cabinet meeting on Tuesday morning, Sir Kerr said he wanted whoever became the next prime minister to succeed, a spokesman said.

The prime minister added that he wanted to “support his successor in dealing with difficult issues in the coming weeks” and “make the transition as smooth as possible.”

Sir Kerr agreed to suspend “major policy” and freeze decisions until a new PM is in place.