Andy Burnham becomes King Charles’s fourth Prime Minister

King Charles accepted the resignation of Keir Starmer and appointed Andy Burnham as the new Prime Minister.

The political stage is once again resetting following Keir Starmer’s resignation earlier this morning. The former PM tendered his resignation to King Charles at Buckingham Palace. His Majesty, who acts as the UK’s Head of State, formally appoints new prime ministers, following their election, under Royal Prerogative.

This morning, Keir Starmer was accompanied by his wife, Lady Starmer, as he delivered his farewell speech. The former PM was confident as he left Number 10 for the last time as head of government. After travelling the short distance to Buckingham Palace, Starmer drove into the Palace’s Quadrangle. Starmer was then received by King Charles in a private audience where he tendered his resignation to the King. Lady Starmer also made an appearance at the end of the audience.

After the former PM left the Palace, and before the appointment of his successor, King Charles was briefly an absolute monarch as His Majesty is head of state and was acting head of government.

Andy Burnham then drove into the Palace to become the next Prime Minister. King Charles received Burnham, who “kissed hands”, an ancient tradition where the incoming leader kneels before the monarch, kisses their hands and formally accepts to become the new PM. However, reports have varied over time, and it is believed that there is no actual “kissing” of the hands. The term is more symbolic than done in practice.

Buckingham Palace said, following the meeting, “His Majesty received in audience the Rt. Hon. Andrew Burnham MP and requested him to form a new Administration. The Rt. Hon Andrew Burnham MP accepted The King’s offer and kissed hands upon his appointment as Prime Minister and First Lord of the Treasury.”

Burnham has become the fourth Prime Minister of King Charles’s reign after Liz Truss, Rishi Sunak, and Keir Starmer. Though the Royal Family remains politically neutral, the King’s constitutional role includes presiding over the traditional handover from one administration to another.