LONDON — Andy Burnham, the former mayor of Greater Manchester and new leader of the Labour Party, took the final steps on Monday to succeed Keir Starmer, becoming Britain’s seventh prime minister in a decade.

The affable Burnham returned to Parliament in June by winning a risky special election and was sworn in as a member on July 12, hours after the unpopular Starmer announced his resignation to end a tenure of just two years in office.

Burnham is expected to tackle policies he believes the Labour Party failed to deliver on under Starmer, including the cost of living crisis, and is expected to take a tougher stance on Israel, believing that his predecessor “didn’t get it right.”

Starmer traveled the mile from Downing Street to Buckingham Palace on Monday to formally tell King Charles III that he was resigning and Charles accepted, Buckingham Palace said.

The 56-year-old Burnham then arrived at the palace and accepted the invitation by Charles to form a government in a moment known as “kissing hands.”

In his final speech as prime minister, Starmer thanked the British people “for the opportunity to serve.”

“As I now pass the baton to Andy Burnham, I wish him every success,” he said. “He has my full support.”

“For all the focus on individuals, politics will always be a team sport, and the changes we’ve delivered for our country and our party belong to everyone who has fought for them,” Starmer said.

He ended by saying, “I go with good grace, I go with a smile, and I go proud of everything that we have achieved.”

Burnham faces a long list of problems, from Britain’s underperforming utilities to anemic economic growth, and must first unveil his top team of ministers — already the subject of much debate in the governing Labour Party.

Describing his election to become Labour leader as “the most significant change moment in our politics for 40 years,” Burnham has promised to radically change Britain’s political system to quickly raise living standards.

“The government I lead will confidently lay that path out starting next week,” he said on Friday when he promised to offer Britain the hope and change the country “was crying out for.”

“It will take us to a country where life is more affordable and all people and places are lifted from where they are now,” he said.

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© The Times of Israel