Opposition MPs Tease Andy Burnham As He’s Sworn Into Commons

Andy Burnham faced some good-natured teasing from opposition MPs as he was sworn in as the Makerfield MP on Monday afternoon.

The former Greater Manchester mayor won the north-west by-election last Thursday with more than 55% of the vote.

He is now widely expected to be the next prime minister after Keir Starmer’s resignation on Monday morning.

While there is still plenty of time for other MPs to join the subsequent leadership contest, Burnham is the only one to have publicly stepped forward so far.

Even Ex-health secretary Wes Streeting, who had promised to enter any leadership race, withdrew and backed Burnham on Monday.

All eyes were on the Makerfield MP’s swearing-in ceremony as a result.

When his name was announced in the Commons, Labour MPs cheered delightedly, but opposition MPs quipped, “Who?” and “Rome is saved.”

One joked, “he’s not the Messiah!”, to which Burnham replied, “naughty boy”.

Another MP on the opposition benches made a comment about “turning water into wine” while Burnham signed his paperwork.

He smiled, and then shook the hand of Commons Speaker, Lindsay Hoyle, before leaving the Chamber.

Burnham stood as the Labour candidate for Makerfield after Josh Simons stood aside in May to give the party’s most popular politician a chance to get into No.10.

Burnham was first elected as the Labour MP for Leigh in 2001 and went on to serve in both Tony Blair and Gordon Brown’s governments.

He ran in two Labour leadership races, first in 2010 and then in 2015, but lost both and ran to be Greater Manchester mayor instead.

Burnham started to be seen as a leadership rival to Starmer last September during the Labour Party conference, despite not being an MP at the time.

However as the government continued to decline in the opinion polls and the prime minister was criticised for conducting too many U-turns and for a flurry of scandals within his top team, Burnham’s popularity continued to grow.

He is widely expected to win any leadership race or effectively face a “coronation” if he runs uncontested.

Starmer’s successor will be the UK’s seventh prime minister from the last decade.

After his swearing in, Burnham went to Westminster Hall to pose for photos with the rest of the Parliamentary Labour Party.

He appeared jubiliant while surrounded by his supportive peers after nine years away from the Commons.

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