When does Andy Burnham become prime minister? Six key questions answered

Image source, Bloomberg via Getty Images Published 8 minutes ago Andy Burnham will take over from Sir Keir Starmer as Labour leader on Friday, after winning the support of the party's MPs. It means he will soon become the UK's prime minister - the seventh in the last 10 years. When does Andy Burnham become prime minister? Burnham becomes Labour leader on Friday - but he will not become prime minister until Monday, three days later. The process on Monday will begin with Starmer meeting King Charles to formally offer his resignation as prime minister. The King will meet Burnham soon afterwards, when he will ask him to form a government. Once Burnham has accepted, he will officially be the UK's prime minister. 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 did he get here? Starmer won a landslide general election victory two years ago - but he began losing public support within weeks of arriving in Downing Street after a series of polcy mis-steps and U-turns. The final straw for many Labour MPs was when right wing party Reform UK swept the board at local elections in May, leaving many of them fearing Reform leader Nigel Farage would win the next general election. Burnham had long had ambitions to be Labour leader - but could only challenge for the top job as a sitting MP. He returned to Parliament a month ago in a by-election, with his victory over the Reform candidate convincing many Labour MPs he was the right candidate to replace Starmer. Other senior Labour figures - such as former health secretary Wes Streeting - abandoned their own leadership ambitions and got behind Burnham, along with the overwhelming majority of the party's MPs. It means he will become Labour leader without a contest. In the UK, prime ministers are not directly elected, unlike US or French presidents - they are the leaders of the party with the most MPs in the House of Commons. This means the UK can change prime ministers without an election - something that has happened with increasing frequency in recent years. Burnham could call a general election when he takes over as prime minister, but appears to have ruled that out. What does Burnham plan to do as prime minister? Burnham has said he will stick broadly to the policies that Labour was elected on in 2024 - in particular not raising the main rates of income tax, VAT or National Insurance. But he has also begun to set out some policy plans of his own. A key priority will be to hand more power to councils and authorities away from parliament. That would involve giving them more control in areas such as housing and transport. As part of that he wants to create another No 10 team more than 150 miles north of London, based in Manchester. Burnham has also given clues around his welfare, social care, immigration and defence plans - and suggested a wealth tax could be on the cards - but in many areas he hasn't announced specific