SCOTT DETROW, HOST:
In the United Kingdom today, there's been a split-screen drama. On one side, the unpopular prime minister, Keir Starmer, at a lectern outside 10 Downing Street, tearfully announcing his resignation.
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KEIR STARMER: Every decision I've taken has been about putting the country I love first.
DETROW: On the other, livestream footage of a train whizzing former Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham south to the capital to be sworn in to Parliament.
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ANDY BURNHAM: I swear by almighty God that I will be faithful and bear true allegiance to His Majesty King Charles, his heirs and successors, according to law. So help me God.
(CHEERING)
DETROW: Next month, Burnham plans to run - so far, uncontested - for the top job, replacing Starmer as prime minister. He would be the country's seventh leader in just 10 years. For more on this revolving door in U.K. politics, let's turn to NPR's Lauren Frayer in London. Hey, Lauren.
LAUREN FRAYER, BYLINE: Hi, Scott.
DETROW: Let's start with a big existential question. Why exactly does the U.K. keep swapping out its leaders?
FRAYER: I mean, on one hand, there's no one reason. You'll remember Boris Johnson - famously threw parties during COVID lockdown - actually resigned after appointing someone facing sexual assault allegations. There was also Liz Truss, who tanked the markets; Theresa May, who couldn't get Brexit done. All of this has happened since Britain's decision to exit the European Union, and tomorrow actually marks 10 years since that vote. Brexit ultimately shrank the U.K. economy. I spoke today with John McTernan, former political secretary to Prime Minister Tony Blair. He says the U.K. was still suffering from the 2008 financial crisis.
JOHN MCTERNAN: If you hadn't had a pay rise in 20 years, if your listeners hadn't had a pay in 20 years, they might be going, something's going wrong. They might be getting angry. And so that anger, which I think is righteous anger, turns itself on the government and the governing class.
FRAYER: Anger at the governing class, a desire to drain the swamp. Sound familiar on your side of the pond?
DETROW: A little bit. A little bit.
FRAYER: Yeah, so here it's led to this insurgent far right. A populist anti-immigrant party has been gaining in the polls here, and that partly explains why the U.K. has just been so difficult to govern.
DETROW: I mean, I don't see who wouldn't want to be prime minister given everything you've just laid out. But Andy Burnham seems to be willing to give it a try. Remind us who he is and whether he can expect things to be any different.
FRAYER: He comes from northern England, where some folks resent the attention and investment the capital, London, gets. As mayor of Greater Manchester, Burnham brought investment and economic growth to postindustrial blighted areas. He won a parliamentary seat in a struggling working-class district near there, where the far-right Reform party swept recent municipal elections. And so with some polls forecasting Reform leader Nigel Farage winning the next national election, many see Burnham as the center-left Labour Party's best chance at averting that.
DETROW: Let me make sure I'm remembering this right. In a parliamentary system, the leader of the party with the most seats is in charge - right? - regardless of who they have as prime minister?
FRAYER: Gets to be prime minister, right.
DETROW: So Labour Party is swapping its leaders. But I guess my question for you is, the next election wouldn't be for another three years, so why make that change now?
FRAYER: So Starmer led Labour to a landslide majority in Parliament two years ago, but his personal approval ratings are the lowest of any prime minister in U.K. history. Beyond the point of no return is how many of his colleagues began to see it, especially with this backdrop of a growing drumbeat of the far right. Polly Toynbee is a Labour insider who writes a column for The Guardian, and I asked her why Starmer's approval ratings are so low.
POLLY TOYNBEE: He hasn't done anything dreadful. He hasn't taken the country into a war. Although he won a huge victory in terms of the number of seats in Parliament, he was there really because people wanted a change from the Conservatives, but not because there was great enthusiasm for him.
FRAYER: A change from the budget cuts that characterized 14 years of Conservative Party rule before him. Burnham, on the other hand, is seen as more folksy, maybe able to connect better with voters. But this is largely a change in personality rather than policy. I mean, Burnham might be slightly to the left of Starmer, more willing to defend a robust welfare state, but they're ultimately from the same party with the same platform.
DETROW: OK, so different approach, different personality, but same economic headwinds, right?
FRAYER: Exactly. I mean, it's the same hand of cards. And MPs actually joked about that as Burnham walked into Parliament to get sworn in today. Here's what it sounded like.
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DESMOND SWAYNE: Rome is saved.
(LAUGHTER)
FRAYER: You can hear one of the MPs yelling, Rome is saved. Others joked about Burnham turning water into wine - you know, poking fun at these high expectations he faces. This country has stagnant growth, heavy debt, threadbare public services. If Burnham becomes prime minister, he will face largely the same challenges as Starmer - you know, high energy costs, how to manage the U.S.-U.K. special relationship during this unpredictable Trump administration. I saw today on social media someone's hawking T-shirts that say, good luck, Andy. That's kind of the mood here right now.
DETROW: A lot of dark humor in the United Kingdom.
FRAYER: That's right, yeah.
DETROW: That's NPR's Lauren Frayer in London. Thank you so much.
FRAYER: Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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