Burnham unopposed & likely to be PM by mid July

[Twiglets1]

Wes Streeting confirms on social media that he won’t stand as a candidate for the Labour leadership. He says that a contest where candidates spent the summer “exaggerating small differences” would not be good for the party or the country, and having spoken to Burnham, he is confident that that there is “a place” for the policies he has been advocating under a Burnham premiership.

The Guardian say this means it is now very, very likely that Burnham will be PM be mid July. It is conceivable that another candidate may come forward. But, apart from Streeting, no one else has publicly signalled an intention to stand, and with Burnham now a shoo-in, it is hard to imagine any other MP getting the support they would need to be a candidate.

heguardian.com/politics/live/2026/jun/22/keir-starmer-resignation-timeable-andy-burnham-labour-leadership-prime-minister-latest-news-updates?page=with%3Ablock-6a390a538f08adffab1e97fd#block-6a390a538f08adffab1e97fd

This may be the case as things stand. But in addition to what @blossomtoessaid, it is worth remembering that life has a habit of being unpredictable, and anyone is only ever one adverse life event away from needing support. I heartily wish we would drop this net contributer/taker rhetoric, as it is so reductive and offensive.

I think your experience is very different to the majority of people in the UK

You seem to live in quite an affluent area?

@hedgeknight - I said I live in London. My kids went to London grammar schools, the kids are largely medics, vets, engineers, lawyers etc next generation of professionals but without much family wealth. Obviously they are looking at all sorts of opportunities especially if their own school and uni friends are.

“I heartily wish we would drop this net contributer/taker rhetoric, as it is so reductive and offensive.”

@ThingsAreNotWhatTheyWere - is is pure financial talk though. Not anything about someone’s moral value.
Where a whole generation cannot buy without parental help where they grew up and are reduced to huge amounts of extra tax burden because of student loans, they have to think financially from the get go. It would be madness not to. They are far more stressed about this then we ever were,

Well London is a big city with plenty of poverty. But yes your anwer indicates affluent area.

Health, education, sports are easier to achieve when you can afford it.

Well personally I live in a mixed area with some rich people and some extremely poor people around, which is typical of London. But it is definitely not one of those multi million pound type places. We are professional middle class, definitely not rich. The kids went to school with a mix of children in state primary, state secondary too, lots of international kids now especially from Asia and Eastern Europe too. They are in a driven crowd for sure. But the point is these kids are all clever but not asset rich so the State has to offer them something to stay and pay. Not just huge student debt and more and more taxes.

The thing is Oxford, Cambridge, Bristol, Manchester etc are also very expensive places to live now.
So where are the young meant to go where there are really good jobs and lower house prices? The young do not seem to know. Hence why many look abroad.

It's not purely financial talk though, is it? It isn't long before net takers become linked to words like a burden, drain, scroungers etc. Those are words that come with a moral value attached.

My point is that these kids have an advantage that not many kids have.

Being financially comfortable is definitely a big help.

I am not talking about wealth more not having to worry about bills too much.

I think it is the expectation to meet a similar lifestyle to your parents in the long run. It can be a burden, Nobody wants to feel like a loser doing less well than your parents’ generation. The system has conspired against them. A lot of them do feel like that. It is natural for young people to be driven energetic and ambitious and want to achieve at least as well as their parents.
If we are serious about “devolution” and other areas of the UK thriving and new cities offering more jobs etc and house prices rebalancing across the country, it is perfectly legitimate to ask where are the young ambitious driven youngsters meant to go and what is the plan.

Don't take this the wrong way Araminta, but you do seem to live in a blissful bubble.

Agree.

@hedgeknight - yes and no. I think most people live in a bubble in their immediate locality and their demographic and social and economic class. So yes I live in London and am a professional and my kids and most of their friends heading that way too. But I have also been a school governor in different schools including some very poor ones and used to do the citizens advice and soup kitchen and food bank volunteering. I was also on a committee a church for a while involving helping elderly out at home and cleaning up etc- so I have seen all sorts! I also volunteered in an orphanage in India once open a time for a few months and in Russia many years ago. So it’s not true that I haven’t seen real poverty.
My kids and their friends discuss emigration a lot. I don’t want all my grandchildren born abroad and miles away either, but what can one do. It’s their choice.

@Araminta1003

You sound like a very rounded person - someone who has tried to improve their lot, and that of their family, whilst also being conscious of those less fortunate than you and I, and actively doing something to help.

As you say, it’s otherwise your DC’s choice - one has to ask (rhetorically), why they are discussing emigrating.

I am not saying that you haven't experienced other ways of live or are ignorant of it, far from it

But you are aware that your children and their friends are in a fortunate position which is not the norm for the majority of people.

As for your children living abroad, I guess it depends on where.
Europe is close enough but more difficult thanks to Brexit.

It would be great if eveyone had the opportunity to experience some sort of study/work/travel abroad.

I disagree actually. I think they're are a lot of wealthy Left leaning people on Mumsnet who like to fetishise poverty (We have a household income of £300k but we still care about poor people!) types who think most people are struggling by in food banks. They can afford to loftily say 'Oh of course, I don't mind paying more tax' because what they have left is still a lot. The middle group of people who are fine but not loaded, cant. Most people are I would say are people working hard in average to decent wage, can pay their bills and feed their kids/ pay for an activitiy or two, bring their children up to go to school, get qualifications, they pay their taxes and want their kids to be able to buy a home. If that wasn't the case, no leisure activities, kids activities, retailers would survive. It's these majority people who just want to see some reward for working every day, bringing their kids up, feeding them properly and sending them to school day in day out, and often they don't see it. I agree with @Araminta1003 it's these people who are just getting on with things who need to see some benefit for themselves and a future for their children that doesn't involve working their butts off to get a good education and hopefully a good job just to be taken the piss out of the whole time. My children are the same- they don't see a future here really, and I have to say, I agree with them.

Terrific post.

It’s now mathematically impossible for any other MP to beat Andy Burnham as he already has 349 nominations to be our next prime minister.

I shall buy a fresh lettuce.

This is a weird distortion of the democratic process.

PMs have arrived before by a current PM and party leader stepping down; but I cannot ever remember this tortuous process of an MP stepping down to create a by-election with the aim of a specific person becoming an MP and then standing as party leader with the specific purpose of giving us all a new PM.

Sounds a bit of a fiddle to me .......

Haha I think he’ll last a bit longer than Liz Truss. How much longer who knows.

It is totally legitimate but feels something of a hollow victory as Burnham would share himself, as he has previously - if it wasn't him 😕

Burnham is not going to be able to do all that much with things kicking off with Trump/Iran again and the ensuing effect on prices and stability.

Also, I had to pay tax on account of interest (on a small scale here) based on higher previous interest rates and HMRC are going to have to pay me back next year. I cannot be the only one. I wonder how much tax revenue they are trying to take upfront that is going to come back to bite them. I know I should have put it in an ISA but I need some money to support one of my DC at uni as we have to top up like most parents.

Burnham is not going to be able to do all that much with things kicking off with Trump/Iran again and the ensuing effect on prices and stability.

This is beyond simplistic - one ongoing exogenous event does not come close to the totality of the UK’s structural problems.

Starmer's last PMQs (BBC):

Conservative MP Jerome Mayhew says the PM "appears to have been brought down by an inability to articulate a plan for government".

Mayhew then says "it must be tough" to be replaced by someone "who refuses to say whether he's even got a plan", referring to Andy Burnham.

He asks whether Starmer agrees that the House will "be missing him" in a few months time.