LONDON — Another emotional speech delivered.The prime minister’s lectern wheeled out at Downing St.
Subscribe to read this story ad-free Get unlimited access to ad-free articles and exclusive content.Now, 10 years to the day after the Brexit vote, and with six prime ministers felled by economic and political turbulence, the country once again looks toward to a new leader — and back to the crucible that helped set it on this torrid journey.Britain has become a member of an unenviable club.Only a select handful of countries, including Peru, Romania and Bulgaria, have experienced more recent churn at the top of government than the United Kingdom, which is about to get its seventh prime minister in a decade following Monday’s resignation announcement by Keir Starmer.
The rot began long before the 2016 vote to leave the European Union.Britain has been trapped in a cycle of economic and political shocks, starting with the 2008 financial crisis and culminating with high inflation fueled by wars in Ukraine and the Middle East.Together, this has strained its finances and politics, with Britain’s historical two-party system fracturing into a patchwork of increasingly tribal alliances and factions.
It has also left the country searching for a stable role between Europe, China and an increasingly unpredictable and transactional United States.Andy Burnham, the runaway favorite to replace Starmer, would inherit all of that.His supporters have high hopes for his mix of charisma, man-of-the-people vibe, and pro-business agenda that helped make Manchester, where he recently served as mayor, the fastest growing economic region of the U.K.Andy Burnham following his swearing-in at London's Houses of Parliament on Monday.Dan Kitwood / Getty ImagesThe widespread skepticism was nonetheless palpable when Burnham was sworn in as lawmaker Monday, having won a special election last week to challenge Starmer.
“Rome is saved,” one lawmaker heckled wryly.“Andy Burnham has ...