Andy Burnham moved closer to becoming Britain’s next prime minister without a leadership contest on Wednesday after Cabinet minister Darren Jones, seen as a potential rival, confirmed he will not stand.
The development strengthens Burnham’s position as the frontrunner to replace Keir Starmer, who is preparing to leave office within weeks after announcing his resignation on Monday.
Starmer, meanwhile, faced the weekly Prime Minister’s Questions in Parliament before travelling to Berlin for talks with European allies on Ukraine and the Middle East.
In Parliament, Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch criticized Starmer’s government, accusing it of multiple failures and suggesting that the Labour Party had shifted its support toward Burnham, whom she described in a sarcastic remark as “just a pair of eyelashes and a black T-shirt.”
Starmer defended his record, saying his government had worked to reverse years of Conservative austerity.
“The test for every prime minister is handing over this country in better shape than you found it,” he said. “I know I can do that.”
Jones, a close ally of Starmer, said on Sky News that he would not enter the leadership race, although he cautioned Burnham against moving too far left on economic policy, a concern among business and financial circles.
He said the next Treasury chief under Burnham must be someone able to “reassure the markets, reassure the trade unions and reassure the parliamentary Labour Party, and by extension the public.”
Burnham, a former Cabinet minister and mayor of Greater Manchester since 2017, recently won a parliamentary seat in a by-election, positioning himself to challenge for Labour leadership and the premiership.
Former health secretary Wes Streeting, once seen as a potential contender, has said he will support Burnham, leaving him currently unopposed.
Labour leadership nominations are set to open on July 9 and close a week later. If Burnham remains the only candidate, he could become prime minister by July 17. If a contest is triggered, a new leader is expected to be in place by Parliament’s return on September 1.
Starmer told Cabinet ministers on Tuesday that he would oversee an orderly transition to his successor while continuing efforts to consolidate his legacy.
However, under current rules, he is not allowed to announce major new policy measures or spending commitments during the remainder of his term.
His visit to Berlin for talks with the “E5” group – Germany, France, Italy, Poland and the United Kingdom – highlights his continued focus on foreign policy, particularly European security, the war in Ukraine and tensions in the Middle East.
The British government is also expected to publish a long-delayed defence investment plan ahead of the NATO summit in Turkey scheduled for July 7–8, which Starmer is likely to attend.