{"id":515611,"date":"2026-06-24T05:48:16","date_gmt":"2026-06-24T05:48:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/515611\/"},"modified":"2026-06-24T05:48:16","modified_gmt":"2026-06-24T05:48:16","slug":"keir-starmer-holds-frosty-talks-with-andy-burnham-to-thrash-out-transition-of-power-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/515611\/","title":{"rendered":"Keir Starmer holds \u2018frosty\u2019 talks with Andy Burnham to thrash out transition of power \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

British prime minister Keir Starmer<\/a> has met Andy Burnham<\/a> for the first time since the Makerfield byelection in what sources said was a \u201cfrosty\u201d meeting to thrash out a transition of power.<\/p>\n

Starmer has agreed for his likely successor to have talks with the civil service to smooth his path, but there is deep resentment within his inner circle towards Burnham for ousting Starmer.<\/p>\n

One Downing Street insider suggested that tensions at the meeting \u2013 which was held away from No 10 and is understood to have lasted about an hour \u2013 were indicative of the strained relationship between the two sides.<\/p>\n

\u201cKeir has shown time and again that he will put the interests of the country first but it is fair to say the meeting wasn\u2019t the warmest. Frosty, even,\u201d they added.<\/p>\n

Allies of Starmer said that although he was serious about an orderly handover, he had no qualms in denying Burnham \u2013 who had initially hoped to take over in September \u2013 a long coronation in order to prepare for government.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere was a strong push from the Burnham camp to be given longer. But why should they tell Keir they want him out, then expect him to manage the ship through a potentially difficult summer? Keir will of course co-operate on transition, but it will be through gritted teeth,\u201d one said.<\/p>\n

Some in Burnham\u2019s team were exasperated about the shorter timetable. \u201cThe last lot had years to prepare and still f****d it up. We\u2019ll just have to do it in three weeks,\u201d one senior source said. \u201cThe length of the transition will focus minds.\u201d<\/p>\n

Starmer has agreed that his likely successor can have access talks with the civil service, including the cabinet secretary, Antonia Romeo, before he enters Downing Street. The process normally takes place with the leader of the opposition before a general election.<\/p>\n

He also told the cabinet he wants to \u201cresolve difficult issues\u201d before he leaves No 10. In an indication of his determination to publish the defence investment plan before being replaced, he said it was his job to resolve outstanding problems in his remaining weeks in office.<\/p>\n

However, Starmer\u2019s spokesperson said he had agreed there would be \u201cno new major policy or spending commitments\u201d before he stands down that could tie his successor\u2019s hands. This did not include the defence plan, which the prime minister regards as settled.<\/p>\n

Sources in Burnham\u2019s camp said he accepted Starmer\u2019s defence spending plan would go ahead, despite reports he would prefer to make the final decision himself. One ally said it was right for the prime minister to \u201cgrip\u201d the issue.<\/p>\n

However, some Labour backbenchers remain sceptical about Burnham. \u201cHe\u2019s totally underprepared and heading straight into a firestorm,\u201d one said. Another said he was \u201cseriously underpowered\u201d on foreign policy and defence.<\/p>\n

His allies point to his experience as a cabinet minister \u2013 at the treasury and the culture and health departments \u2013 as well as his nine years as Greater Manchester mayor, and say transition and policy teams have been operating for weeks.<\/p>\n

Louise Haigh, who ran his successful byelection campaign, is overseeing the transition for him, alongside Ed Miliband, the former minister Miatta Fanbulleh and the former Makerfield MP Josh Simons. The MPs Anneliese Midgley and Sally Jameson are closely involved.<\/p>\n

Burnham\u2019s team believe they can \u201clean in\u201d to the Starmer government\u2019s agenda as \u2013 unlike entering power straight after an election \u2013 a significant amount of work is already in motion. However, they said too much of this had been \u201cunderpowered\u201d and they had to do a better job of showing the country it was delivering change. \u2013 Guardian<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"British prime minister Keir Starmer has met Andy Burnham for the first time since the Makerfield byelection in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":515612,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[85530,42,1194,1193,43,40,38,41,39,1192],"class_list":["post-515611","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-andy-burnham","tag-headlines","tag-keir-starmer","tag-labour-party-uk","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories","tag-uk-politics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/515611","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=515611"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/515611\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/515612"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=515611"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=515611"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=515611"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}