Mary Beard Calls Out Constant Churn In UK Prime Ministers

Historian Mary Beard has slammed the way the UK keeps changing prime ministers just as Keir Starmer prepares to leave No.10.

His successor Andy Burnham is set to be announced as the Labour leader on Friday and prime minister on Monday.

The Makerfield MP will be Britain’s seventh prime minister in a decade.

Speaking to BBC Newsnight, Beard said she is “fed up” of the constant churn.

“At some point, someone has to say, government is not like a football team,” the respected historian said.

“If things are not going very well, you don’t just sack the manager. You have to have a bit, you have to see it through. Government is not just the figurehead.

“Government is about whether the cabinet and the party and the back-up, whether they can do the job.

“This sacking the manager bit, you know – I’m fed up with it.”

Calls for Burnham to replace Starmer grew after Labour’s terrible performance in the May elections in England, Wales and Scotland.

Josh Simons stood aside as the Labour MP for Makerfield to give Burnham – then Greater Manchester mayor and the most popular Labour politician in the country – a path to replacing the PM.

When Burnham saw off the threat from Reform UK and won a comfortable victory in the by-election, Starmer announced he was resigning as prime minister.

Burnham quickly made it clear he would put himself forward to be the next Labour leader and de facto PM.

While his announcement as leader is yet to be confirmed, he has the support of almost the entire Parliamentary Labour Party – meaning it would be impossible for any other MP to enter the running.

Starmer’s approval rating nosedived while he was in office, with half (51%) of the country now saying he has been a “poor” or “terrible” prime minister.

YouGov found 29% think Starmer was average while just 16% think he was “good” or “great”.

That’s a huge pivot from the polls conducted before he entered office – when 54% of Labour supporters thought he would be a “good” or “great” prime minister.

Meanwhile, 21% of Brits think Burnham will be “good” or “great as a prime minister, 20% expect him to be average and 33% say he will be “poor” or “terrible”.

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