CANADA VIBES NEWSROOM · ÉDITION DU MATIN | MORNING EDITION — July 20, 2026, 9:31 PM ET

The former mayor of Manchester was asked by King Charles III to form a government after Keir Starmer resigned following a series of election setbacks.

Keir Starmer resigned as U.K. prime minister, delivering a farewell speech outside 10 Downing Street before traveling to Buckingham Palace to offer his resignation to King Charles III.

Andy Burnham, Labour Party leader and former mayor of Manchester for roughly a decade, succeeds him unchallenged for the leadership. The king asked him to form a government, making him the U.K.’s seventh prime minister in ten years.

The change of prime minister comes without a general election: in the United Kingdom, a governing party can change leaders — and therefore prime ministers — mid-term without a public vote.

Burnham inherits a country grappling with low wages and internal Labour Party strife, after a string of election defeats and controversies eroded Starmer’s position.

What to watch

The makeup of Burnham’s new cabinet, his economic and social priorities, and how markets and the U.K.’s international partners, including Canada, react.

Sources

• NPR
• The Washington Post
• CBS News
• Deadline