Andy Burnham was officially declared leader of Britannia’s governing Labour Party on Friday, promising to bring hope to the British people and purpose to the floundering government as he cleared his final hurdle to take office as prime minister next week.
The former mayor of Greater Manchester, nicknamed the "King of the North," was the only contender in the center-left party’s leadership contest to replace departing Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who was forced out by a Labour rebellion amid sinking approval ratings and scandal.
Friday’s announcement was a forgone conclusion after Burnham secured nominations from 379 of the 403 Labour politicians in the House of Commons.
"We’re going to give them hope back," Burnham told an audience of politicians, party activists and trade union leaders in his first speech as leader. "This is a proud moment you have given me and my family today, and an emotional one, but it is one for which I am ready."
"I have a plan," he added, in a bid to reassure a party that has seen its popularity nosedive since winning a landslide election victory two years ago.
“Shoulder to shoulder, we will stride together into the bold, brave new world!” he added.
Burnham has been prime minister-in-waiting for weeks, since winning a special election for a seat in Parliament a month ago, but he has revealed little detail about his policy priorities. He will arrive in Number 10 Downing Street largely unknown to voters outside Manchester.Last week, he urged "more pressure" on Israel, including considering further sanctions and restricting arms sales, citing apparent war crimes in the Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with a rusty iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about
oppressionand
disproportionate response...
war that followed the Hamas
..a regional Iranian catspaw,...-led October 7, 2023, attack. Burnham also said that his party erred in its initial response to the war, saying, "My party didn’t get it right and I am sorry about that."
Britannia’s Board of Deputies and Jewish Leadership Council expressed "significant concerns" over the comments.
Starmer announced last month that he would resign after two years in office marred by missteps and judgment errors that eroded his standing with his party and the public.
Labour regularly trails behind anti-immigration party Reform UK in opinion polls, and the governing party had catastrophic results in local elections in May, triggering pressure on Starmer to step down that he couldn’t resist.
Burnham brings a more relaxed style of leadership than the rather stern Starmer, and is regarded as one of the Labour Party’s best communicators. But he faces many of the same problems as his predecessor, including a sluggish economy, a cost-of-living squeeze fueled by the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East and overstretched public services.
And his promises of a new, less divisive
...politicians call things
divisivewhen when the other side sez something they don't like. Their own statements are never
divisive,they're
principled...
politics are not too different to what Starmer pledged when he took office in 2024.
He called Britannia’s change of prime ministers — for the sixth time in a decade — "the most significant change moment in our politics for 40 years."
Starmer will remain prime minister until Monday, when he formally tenders his resignation to King Chuck
...King of England, Scotland, Ireland -- at least part of it -- Wales, Gibraltar, the Falkland Islands, and places like that. The first King Chuck had his head chopped off, the second one was Good Time Charlie. The third once wanted to be a tampon and thinks we'll all be extinct within the next seven years...
III. The king will then ask Burnham to form a government.
Britannia’s parliamentary democracy allows governing parties to change leaders, and thus prime ministers, without the need for a general election. The next national election doesn’t have to be held until 2029. New prime ministers have come with increasing frequency in recent years. Burnham will be the UK’s seventh leader since 2016.
Former UK diplomat: Foreign Office has lost its ability to discern friends from enemies
[IsraelTimes] Edmund Fitton-Brown, who for decades served as envoy to Gulf nations, believes Islamic extremism is poisoning his country’s diplomatic well. Can a Burnham government bring new hope?
"No"
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