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By promising to deliver a “circuit breaker” for public utilities and eroded local government system, Andy Burham, the newly appointed Prime Minister (PM) of the United Kingdom knows that the job is cut out for him. By also acknowledging that he is walking through a political revolving door shows that he is not oblivious of the banana peels that ignobly swept off his six predecessors within a decade. Undoubtedly, the instability of UK PM position in recent years is worrisome. For 65 years – between the end of World War II and 2010 – UK had produced only 12 PMs, and the longest serving was Margret Thatcher (1979-1990) who stayed put for almost 12-year consecutive tenure.
However, the cyclical storm began with David Cameron who took over from Gordon Brown. After Cameron’s leadership lasted between 2010 and 2016, little did anybody know that the change would be in a quicker succession. The negative outcome of Brexit referendum which, in Cameron’s words, ended a ‘poisoning’ of UK politics, punctuated his tenure. But Pete Dorey, professor of British politics, saw it as a “monumental miscalculation” triggered by Cameron’s inability to manage intra-Party dissent over Europe.
The ghost of Brexit brouhaha still haunted Theresa May who succeeded him. Mrs May reputed as UK’s second female PM assumed office in July 2016 but she was hamstrung by ego-shattering defeats (up to three times) at the legislature. She failed to secure Parliament’s approval for the negotiated deal on how UK could leave the EU bloc. “The offer was designed to attract support from Labour MPs – but enraged many Brexit-supporting Conservatives. Members of her cabinet began openly opposing the bill, while party members called for her to sign,” BBC reported in 2019. To the end, she was caught up in the cross-fire and she tendered her resignation on July 24, 2019.
Another Conservative, Boris Johnson stepped up as the new PM. Nonetheless, his political downfall was largely his own making. His breach of the legally-mandated Covid-19 lockdown rules, alongside his staff, and his subsequent attempts to mislead the Parliament in what was termed ‘Partygate’ scandal, were part of the scandals that impugned his integrity. He angrily quitted the Parliament in 2022 when he was served the House of Commons’ Privileges Committee Report which had hinted him of a 90-day suspension for recklessly violating the protocol on physical distancing.
Yet, the PM seat was still mired in slippery clay. Mrs Mary Elizabeth Truss (popularly known as Liz Truss) who became the PM on September 6, 2022, after Boris Johnson, resigned 45 days later. She surpassed the record of George Canning who died in 1827 after 119 days in office as PM. What triggered the call for Truss’s early ouster was the implementation of tax cuts which she thought would boost the economy. The policy however stoked tensions with the reduction of the value of Pound sterling (UK’s legal tender) and the panics it sent to the financial markets. Although she made a U-turn to calm frayed nerves and stave off the heat, the whirlwind generated by the controversy still swept her out of office.
Truss was officially succeeded by Rishi Sunak on October 25, 2022. He occupied the office for only two years. Notwithstanding his claimed achievements: stabilizing the economy, falling mortgage rates, inflation meeting targets, rebuilding robust relationships in international affairs, and making the UK a destination for emerging transformative technologies, it was his inability to lead the Conservatives to victory that dwarfed his place in history. An excerpt from his resignation letter depicts his regrets: “I have heard your anger, your disappointment; and I take responsibility for this loss…I am sorry we could not deliver what your efforts deserved. It pains me to think how many good colleagues who contributed so much to their communities and our country will no longer sit in the House of Commons.”
And due to the landslide victory of the Labour Party at the general election, Mr. Keir Stammer became the PM on July 5, 2024. But the era of “chapping and changing” PMs was far from over. Stammer’s uninspiring early days in office were indicative of a continued volatility trailing the plum office. The embarrassing discovery of huge donations, gifts, and hospitality largesse to the tune of £250,000 given to Stammer and some Labour Party minsters from influence peddlers, before and after the election, raised fiduciary concerns. Stammer would promise to later return £6,000 after the scandal had trended, but the damage had been done and the dent stuck.
A number of factors heightened the public disaffection with Stammer’s leadership. They include: the removal of winter fuel allowance for 10 million elderly persons; hiking of taxes to raise £25billion in his maiden budget (this would affect funds for addressing social welfare matters such as unemployment benefits, maternity leave and pensions); appointment of Peter Mandelson as UK Ambassador to the US despite his affinity with Jeffrey Epstein, the jailed child sex offender; the upsurge in the number of undocumented immigrants; as well the diplomatic stand-off between the US and UK, under his watch.
As would be expected, months of unfavourable opinion polls and pressure for his exit by fellow Labour Party MPs caused Stammer to resign on June 22, 2026. In his place, a new PM, Andy Burnham took office on July 20, 2026. He has unveiled a 10-year plan to stabilize the political space for spirited economic revival. His policy thrust would revolve around easing cost of living crisis for the downtrodden, decentralizing political power, boosting the industrial base, and bringing an end to the dehumanizing rough sleeping. Be that as it may, how Burnham manages the prevailing economic strain and state interventionism in a bid to increase the people’s purchasing power will determine the stability of his stay. But given his pro-poor antecedents as ex-Mayor of Greater Manchester and his public rhetorics that reflect empathy for the ordinary people, Burnham will likely break the jinx if he also plays the right politics.
