Veteran politician Andy Burnham was on course on Thursday to become Britain's next prime minister as hundreds of Labour lawmakers formally nominated him to succeed Keir Starmer as party leader.

The 56-year-old is the only member of parliament from the UK's ruling party to publicly declare themselves a candidate to replace Starmer, who announced he was quitting last month.

Burnham appeared on track to be crowned Labour leader unchallenged after the party announced that 322 of its 403 MPs had backed him on the first day of nominations on Thursday.

"It is all starting to feel very real," Burnham said in a social media video posted shortly after the process opened.

With 322 nominations, he seemed on an unstoppable path to the Labour leadership and thus the premiership, as there is very little chance for another challenger to get the 81 signatures required to join the race.

Nominations close on July 16. In the absence of a contest, Burnham will be crowned Labour leader – and prime minister in waiting – at a special conference the following day.

He would then replace Starmer at 10, Downing Street on July 20 after meeting King Charles, becoming Britain's seventh prime minister in a decade.

In a post on Facebook, Burnham said he was "deeply grateful" for the across-the-party support from Labour MPs "who have put their trust in me."

"That is the circuit breaker I am offering: power out of Westminster, an economy rewired for ordinary people, and good growth in every postcode."

Burnham, nicknamed the "King of the North" for winning three consecutive Greater Manchester mayoral elections, has vowed to "bring about the biggest rebalancing of power our country has seen." (AFP)



Edited by Cecil Wong