Britain is about to get a new leader. Here’s how the transition works

The New York Times - Britain has become accustomed to shuffling through prime ministers at a rapid pace and is now poised to have its seventh leader in a decade. But the transition still requires a few steps.

Last month, Prime Minister Keir Starmer, amid a mutiny from within his party, announced his plans to resign. That made way for Andy Burnham, the former mayor of Greater Manchester, who became eligible by winning a special election for a seat in Parliament.

Under Britain’s parliamentary system, voters don’t elect an individual to serve as prime minister but rather cast their ballots for a party to govern. It is the party in power, in this case Labour, that gets to decide who is at the helm.

Mr. Burnham made an uncontested bid for leadership of the governing Labour Party, with the backing of almost 95 percent of his party’s lawmakers in Parliament, and on Friday became Labour leader.

With Mr. Burnham poised to officially become Britain’s prime minister on Monday, here’s how everything is expected to play out:

1. Starmer will go to see the king to resign.

Moving vans have been spotted at the prime minister’s official residence since soon after Mr. Starmer announced his resignation last month. On Monday morning, he is expected to give a statement outside Downing Street.

It’s a scene that has grown familiar in Britain, where the prime minister will typically make a speech at a lectern set up outside. (Keep your eyes peeled for everyone’s favorite sound engineer).

Then he will travel by car the short distance to Buckingham Palace, where he will formally tender his resignation to King Charles III.

It’s a well-rehearsed sequence of events — and the king, who has been on the throne for less than four years, has already had a good deal of practice. In that time, he’s ushered out Liz Truss, appointed and later bid farewell to Rishi Sunak, and then appointed Mr. Starmer, to whom he will now also bid farewell.

2. Then it’s Burnham’s turn.

Almost immediately after Mr. Starmer leaves, Mr. Burnham will arrive at the palace, where the king will ask him to form a government.

This audience with the king is known as “kissing hands,” which dates to a time when incoming prime ministers literally kissed the reigning sovereign’s hand to show their loyalty to the crown. These days, they simply shake hands during the short meeting.

3. First moments at Downing Street.

Once he has been appointed by the king, Mr. Burnham will travel to Downing Street, where members of the press will be waiting to capture his entrance to his new home. There is some speculation that Mr. Burnham, in a departure from more recent handover tradition, might forgo the lectern that his predecessors have used to deliver their first message in front of the iconic black door. That remains unclear.

But we do know a bit about his message, where he will say he is “acutely conscious” of the turnover in leadership in the last decade. Aides said Mr. Burnham would lay out his domestic priorities and promise to give more breathing room to British people struggling with high prices and slow growth.

4. Then the work begins.

The Burnham era will officially start when he walks through the doors of 10 Downing Street. It’s then that the real work of governing begins. He will set about appointing his cabinet of ministers to carry out Labour’s plans as well as to pursue some of his own goals. He’s made pledges to raise living standards, shift power from London to other cities and regions, and set up a branch of the prime minister’s official office in Manchester.

Megan Specia reports on Britain, Ireland and the Ukraine war for The Times.