Sir Keir Starmer met Andy Burnham for talks on Tuesday, the first time the pair have met since Burnham won last week's Makerfield by-election, as the outgoing prime minister seeks to ensure an 'orderly' transition of power after announcing he is standing down. The hour-long meeting, first reported by The Times, came as Starmer authorised access talks with civil servants for prospective Labour leadership candidates to prepare them for government. Burnham is the only candidate to have emerged so far, and if he does not face a challenger he could become prime minister as early as 17 July.
Access talks, normally granted to opposition party leaders ahead of a general election, will begin 'as soon as possible', the PM's spokesman said, before formal nominations for any Labour leadership contest close on 16 July. They will focus on 'formation of government and key policy priorities' and include security briefings. The spokesman said he did not know if Burnham had formally requested access talks, adding that the decision to make them available had only just been made.
“Keir Starmer met Andy Burnham for first time since by-election, pledging orderly transition as Burnham eyes prime minister”
Speaking at a cabinet meeting on Tuesday morning, Starmer said he wanted whoever became the next prime minister to succeed, his spokesman said. The PM added that he would 'seek to resolve difficult issues in the coming weeks to support his successor' and 'seek to make the transition as easy as possible'. Starmer has agreed to suspend 'major policy' and spending decisions until a new PM is in place.
Burnham, the former Greater Manchester mayor who returned to Parliament this week, has yet to set out a detailed policy agenda or indicate who would get the top jobs. He is due to make a series of speeches starting next week, beginning with one on devolution and the economy. He has committed to Chancellor Rachel Reeves' fiscal rules, a sign he would not oversee a big rise in government borrowing, and to Labour's manifesto promise not to increase the main rates of income tax, VAT or National Insurance, which would limit his ability to raise significant sums from tax.
Burnham was sworn in on a Bible as the new MP for Makerfield, making his first Commons appearance since the by-election. Despite describing himself as 'not particularly religious', he has said that 'Catholic social teaching underpins my politics'. In an interview a decade ago, he said he was 'Catholic by upbringing' and believed in the values it gave his children, who attended a Catholic school. He spoke of drifting from the Church under the late Pope Benedict, whom he found 'quite terrifying', but had 'high hopes' for Pope Francis, whom he met as Greater Manchester mayor in 2023, branding the Vatican visit 'profoundly moving'. After Francis' death last year, Burnham said it had 'hit me harder than I expected'.
On assisted dying, a stance at odds with the Catholic Church, Burnham has suggested he would vote in favour. In 2024, ahead of the first Commons vote on the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, he told BBC Manchester he would 'probably vote in favour of it'.