The man tipped to be the next UK prime minister is keeping calm, but he needs to act fast

June 20, 2026 — 12:07pm

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London: A decisive moment in British politics finally arrived on Friday (UK time) when Andy Burnham won a convincing victory that swept him into parliament so he could act on his undisguised ambition to become prime minister.

And then he failed to act.

Burnham, touted by his admirers as the obvious candidate to replace Prime Minister Keir Starmer, made no formal move to launch a leadership challenge. He sat tight. And dragged out the tortured guessing games about the contest to come.

Starmer is deeply unpopular, his government is drifting, and his cabinet ministers are giving up on him. All the signs point to a necessary decision within the Labour Party to set its direction. Either it endorses Starmer, or it elects his replacement.

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It is untenable for the government to go on without a vote on its future.

Burnham chose not to seize the moment. While his supporters have claimed for months that he has the numbers to launch a challenge, he chose not to put this to the test at the earliest opportunity. In a tactic familiar to Australians who have watched countless leadership spills in Canberra, he used the media to do his work for him.

This led to yet another day of rumour, speculation, anonymous sniping and media commentary about what should happen next. It led to everything except a resolution.

While Burnham is being........

© WA Today