DC Edit | Amid Huge Challenges, Will Burnham Deliver As UK PM?

As Larry the Cat welcomes his seventh prime minister through the revolving door at 10 Downing Street in just a decade since the deadly Brexit referendum, the new Chancellor of the Exchequer’s choice of the ninth occupant of the 11th row in a decade, Mr John Healey, underscores the message that Mr Andy Burnham is determined to create real change, not just symbolize the process of change.

Promising this to be a “circuit-breaking moment”, the UK Prime Minister has cleared the government of Mr Keir Starmer’s loyalists, who were well-intentioned but foundering on inherited problems in the economy, on defense issues and in bringing about social change to address the woes of those who feel the burden of the cost of living index.

The sudden rise of Mr Burnham, the former mayor of Manchester, comes with a must-win byelection in Macclesfield to return to London and national politics as his party’s choice for leader. He will also face the task of keeping the emerging Reform Party at bay at some point if Labor, one of the two largest parties in traditional British politics along with the Conservatives, calls a general election; whereas it is only two years since Mr Starmer helped Labor storm parliament at the expense of the Conservative Party and their six pro-Brexit Prime Ministers.

Long before any poll opinion emerged, Mr Burnham, often nicknamed the “King of the North”, has to show that he can save the whole of Britain from the economic quagmire brought on by the subprime scandal market crash of 2008, when Britain saw a virtual plateau in economic growth and all the talk now is about black holes that recent governments have been unable to do anything about.

Like everyone else in his seat, the new Prime Minister must find ways and means to raise incomes to fund infrastructure growth and defense, give money to the poorest, and address homelessness, which is growing alongside economic inequality. His promise to empower local governments to stimulate growth while reversing 1980s Thatcherism and its privatization of utilities, council housing, water, energy and transport will be tested. As a founding member, Britain also needs to increase its contribution to NATO.

Mr Burnham’s entry into Downing Street will be positive for India. Ties are likely to grow further from here, especially after the newly launched UK-India free trade agreement (Ceta) following three years of extensive negotiations that began under the Conservatives and was completed during Mr Starmer’s term when he and Prime Minister Narendra Modi signed the agreement at Chequers, the country residence of British Prime Ministers.

Since the British and Indian economies are now about the same size, any increase in bilateral trade can only benefit both economies. India and Britain have no serious problems to solve; This is notable because relations with the former colonial master were stable, regardless of who was in Downing Street. In time, India may like Mr Burnham as much as anyone in office since the regime of John Major and Tony Blair, and may even get one from Rishi Sunak, who is of Indian descent.