Andy Burnham is set to become the United Kingdom's next prime minister in the coming days, likely maintaining broad continuity on fiscal, foreign and defense policy within tight market and budget constraints; however, a left-leaning chancellor pick or ambiguity on tax and spending plans could result in temporary market volatility, while EU relations will advance only incrementally and could turn more ambitious toward the 2029 election. Within hours of nominations opening on July 9 to replace Keir Starmer as party leader and U.K. prime minister, Burnham secured backing from 322 of Labour's 403 lawmakers in Parliament, four times the 81 nominations required to stand. The scale of his support makes a rival bid all but mathematically impossible, since each lawmaker can back only one candidate and a single further nomination would leave too few uncommitted for any challenger to reach the required threshold. Former Health Secretary Wes Streeting, who the...
