Andrew Burnham, a 56-year-old Labour politician and former Mayor of Greater Manchester, was sworn in as British Prime Minister on 20 July 2026, becoming the first Catholic to hold the office in the modern era — a notable distinction given that the UK's head of state, King Charles III, is also the titular head of the Church of England. Burnham, a long-standing opponent of Brexit who once warned it would do more damage to Britain than terrorism, now faces pressure to repair the country's fraught relationship with the EU, though analysts expect domestic concerns such as the cost of living to take priority. He succeeds Keir Starmer, who was forced out after just two years in office, continuing a pattern of political instability that observers link directly to the unresolved legacy of the 2016 Brexit referendum.