2026-06-22T12:55:00-0400 / 哥伦比亚广播公司新闻
伦敦——英国首相基尔·斯塔默于周一宣布辞职，距离他带领中左翼工党在大选中取得压倒性胜利还不到两年时间。
斯塔默承诺将进行“有序过渡”，新首相最快将于9月前上任，这一决定此前数月因公众对经济的不满以及应对非法移民进展缓慢的指责而不断发酵。
舆论迅速转向外界普遍认为最有可能接替斯塔默的人选。尽管工党仍有可能举行党内领袖竞选，但高级成员似乎急切希望避免这场闹剧，安迪·伯纳姆的支持势头正快速升温。
直到上周，伯纳姆担任英国第五大城市曼彻斯特市长已有约十年时间。他上周辞去市长职务，参加一场地方补选并轻松赢得大曼彻斯特郡梅克菲尔德的席位，成为英国下议院当地议员。
尽管法律并未强制要求，但英国政党领袖长期以来均从现任当选议员中选出。
伯纳姆近期在梅克菲尔德补选的胜利意义重大，不仅扫清了他通往首相之位的道路，还因为他在近年来工党难以守住的这类选区取得了压倒性胜利。
该选区以英国白人为主，传统上属于工人阶级后工业社区，在2016年“脱欧”公投中压倒性支持退出欧盟。英国各地像梅克菲尔德这样的社区数十年来一直是工党票仓，但随着许多选民转向改革英国党等右翼民粹政党，这些选区的竞争日益激烈。
由特朗普盟友奈杰尔·法拉奇领导的改革党去年取得重大突破，原因是选民对移民问题感到担忧，同时认为生活水平有所下降。
但伯纳姆的表现超出预期，这给工党战略家们带来了希望：该党有望在下次全国大选前重新赢得选民支持，届时大选可能会改变下议院的席位构成，让其他政党有机会执掌政权。
谁是安迪·伯纳姆？
伯纳姆多年来一直将自己定位为斯塔默的可行替代人选，在工党领导层表现疲软时批评其领导，同时精心打造自己的全国形象。
伯纳姆作为全国及国际领袖将与斯塔默有何不同，目前尚不完全明确。
工党长期的主要对手、保守党议员近日将伯纳姆形容为“带北方口音的基尔·斯塔默”。
在斯塔默发现刻意讨好美国前总统特朗普只能带来有限益处后，伯纳姆在处理与特朗普的关系上是否会采取不同方式，还有待观察。至少有一位此前在意识形态上似乎与特朗普合得来的欧洲领导人，在伊朗问题相关冲突期间与白宫产生了分歧。
伯纳姆将面临维护英国最珍视的盟友关系的压力，但在梅克菲尔德补选前的竞选活动中，他警告英国不要照搬美国式政治。
“政治正变得愈发两极分化。如果我们不小心，我们正走上通往美利坚合众国政治模式的道路，”他对支持者表示，“一种两极分化、充满恶意的政治，社区里的人们不再彼此合作。”
尽管伯纳姆常将自己标榜为伦敦政坛的局外人，但他职业生涯的大部分时间都在首都度过，曾在前首相托尼·布莱尔和戈登·布朗的内阁中任职，并在2017年成为曼彻斯特市长前，担任工党议员长达16年。
他此前曾两次尝试竞选工党最高领袖职位，但均以失败告终。
然而，作为大曼彻斯特市长期间，伯纳姆树立了英格兰北部权益捍卫者的形象，尤其是在新冠疫情期间，他公开与时任首相鲍里斯·约翰逊领导的保守党政府就该市的财政支持问题发生争执。
这位被称为“北方之王”的政客倡导区域权力下放——赋予市议会更多权力——以及公民自豪感，这一理念如今有时被称为“曼彻斯特主义”。
其支持者认为，这正是他与斯塔默的不同之处。
他们将他描绘成后工业英国的真实代言人——一个理解被伦敦忽视的社区的人。他们称，他“普通人”的形象和轻松的沟通风格，与前政府律师斯塔默始终未能摆脱的刻板、技术官僚式的政治作风形成鲜明对比。
但批评人士认为，伯纳姆未能明确阐述自己对当今一些最关键议题的看法。例如，当他重返伦敦政坛的猜测加剧时，他在移民问题和英国脱欧后与欧盟的关系上似乎改变了立场。
今年早些时候，他批评了斯塔默推出的一些更严格的移民政策，但随后又暗示他将采取更严厉的措施减少合法移民，并扩大对非法入境者的拘留设施。
他此前曾支持英国最终重新加入欧盟，但此后已与这一立场保持距离。
目前尚不清楚伯纳姆如果成为下一任首相，可能会推行哪些真正区别于斯塔默的政策。由于工党将通过全国大选获得新的授权后才能执政，无论是他还是斯塔默的继任者，都可能不愿做出重大变革。
斯塔默凭借2024年全国大选的压倒性胜利重新掌权，在保守党执政十多年后重新夺回下议院控制权。因此，放弃此次大选后推行的政策——工党最初当选时承诺要完成的事项——可能会让伯纳姆面临“不民主”的批评。
斯塔默宣布辞职后数分钟内，改革党的法拉奇就要求举行新的大选。
“威斯敏斯特想凭借一场补选就直接拥立安迪·伯纳姆，”他说，“假装安迪·伯纳姆拥有领导国家的任何有意义的授权，这太荒谬了。”
伯纳姆如何成为首相？
英国选民并不直接选举首相，而是选举当地议员。在下议院占据多数席位的政党领袖通常会成为首相。
如果执政党议员中的多数人认为党首已成为选举负担，那么执政党可以更换其领袖（通常也就是首相），而且至关重要的是，他们可以在不举行大选的情况下完成这一变动。
近年来，英国出现了多起完全合法、符合宪法且无需举行大选的领导层变动。如果伯纳姆入主伦敦唐宁街10号的首相官邸，他将成为十年内第七位担任该职位的人。
伯纳姆的支持者认为，凭借他在工党传统北方票仓的强大支持以及全新的公众形象，他有望成为可行的替代人选，带领工党在下次全国大选中连任——至少可以避免民调显示的、工党即将面临的选举灾难。
英国必须在2027年前举行新一届全国大选，但政府可以在那之前随时提前举行大选，以争取获得授权。但显然风险在于，政府也可能在议会中失去多数席位，进而失去首相职位。
尽管伯纳姆被广泛视为最有可能的继任者，但他并非工党内部传出的唯一潜在接班人。
直到周一，前卫生大臣、工党中右翼知名人物韦斯·斯特里廷还被普遍认为是挑战伯纳姆党魁职位的黑马。但在斯塔默宣布辞职后不到一小时，斯特里廷就表态支持伯纳姆，为这位“北方之王”增添了更多胜算。
Who is Andy Burnham, the man likely to replace British Prime Minister Keir Starmer after his resignation?
2026-06-22T12:55:00-0400 / CBS News
London— British Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced on Monday that he was resigning, less than two years after he led his center-left Labour Party to a commanding general election victory.
Starmer vowed an “orderly transition” that should see a new prime minister in place by September, if not much sooner, after months of mounting public dissatisfaction over the economy and perceived slow progress in tackling illegal immigration.
Attention quickly shifted onto the man seen widely as Starmer’s likely replacement. While it’s still possible that there will be a leadership contest within the Labour Party, senior members appeared keen to avoid the spectacle and momentum was building fast around Andy Burnham.
Until last week, Burnham had been the Mayor of Manchester, Britain’s fifth largest city, for about a decade. He stepped down from that role to stand in a local by-election last week, easily clinching the seat in Makerfield, Greater Manchester, to become the local Member of Parliament in the House of Commons.
Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham speaks as he celebrates his victory in a Makerfield by-election on June 19, 2026 in Ashton in Makerfield, England. Ryan Jenkinson/Getty
While not required by law, British party leaders have long been chosen from among sitting elected lawmakers.
Burnham’s recent victory in the Makerfield by-election was significant not only as it cleared his potential path to the premiership, however, but because he won decisively in exactly the type of constituency Labour has struggled to hold onto in recent years.
The seat is predominantly white British, traditionally working-class, post-industrial and voted heavily to leave the European Union in the 2016 “Brexit” referendum. Communities like Makerfield across the U.K. were considered Labour heartlands for decades, but they have become increasingly contested as many voters drift toward right-wing, populist parties such as Reform UK.
Reform, led by President Trump’s ally Nigel Farage, has made major gains over the last year thanks to concern among voters over immigration amid perceived declines in living standards.
Burnham outperformed expectations, however, giving Labour strategists hope that the party can reconnect with voters before the next national elections, which could change the makeup of the House of Commons and give another party a chance to take the reins.
Who is Andy Burnham?
Burnham has spent years positioning himself as a viable alternative to Starmer, criticizing Labour’s leadership at moments of weakness while carefully cultivating his own national profile.
How Burnham would differ from Starmer as a national — and international leader — isn’t exactly clear.
A lawmaker from the Conservative Party, Labour’s longtime chief rivals, recently described Burnham as “Keir Starmer with a Northern accent.”
Whether he would adopt a different approach in dealing with President Trump — after Starmer found that going out of his way to keep the American leader on-side can bring somewhat limited advantages — also remains to be seen. At least one European leader who previously appeared to be reasonable match for Mr. Trump, at least ideologically, has found herself at odds with the White House during the Iran war.
Burnham would be under pressure to maintain Britain’s most cherished alliance, but as he campaigned ahead of the recent by-election in Makerfield, he warned the U.K. against adopting American-style politics.
“Politics is getting more polarized. And the path we’re on, if we are not careful, is a path towards the politics of the United States of America,” he told supporters. “A polarized, poisonous politics where people in communities don’t work together anymore.”
Former Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham speaks as he celebrates his victory in the Makerfield by-election, on June 19, 2026. Christopher Furlong/Getty
Although he often presents himself as an outsider to London politics, Burnham’s spent much of his career in the capital, both as a member of cabinet under former Prime Ministers Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, and during 16 years as an elected Labour member of parliament before he became Manchester’s mayor in 2017.
He has also tried and failed twice previously to win the leadership role at the top of the Labour Party.
As Greater Manchester’s mayor, however, Burnham built a reputation as a champion of northern England, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic, when he publicly clashed with then-Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s rival Conservative Party government over financial support for his city.
The so-called “King of the North” has championed a model of regional devolution — giving city councils more power — and civic pride that is now sometimes referred to as “Manchesterism.”
This, his supporters argue, is where he differs from Starmer.
They portray him as an authentic voice for post-industrial Britain — a man who understands communities that feel neglected by London. His “everyman” presentation and his easy communication style, they argue, contrasts with the rigidness and technocratic approach to politics that former government lawyer Starmer never managed to shed.
Critics argue, however, that Burnham has failed to make clear his views on some of the most defining issues of the day. When speculation about his return to London intensified, Burnham appeared to change his position, for instance, on immigration and Britain’s post-Brexit relationship with Europe.
Earlier this year, he criticized some of the tougher immigration policies ushered in by Starmer, but then suggested he would go further to reduce legal migration and expand detention capacity for people who enter the country without permission.
He previously expressed support for Britain eventually rejoining the European Union, but he has since distanced himself from that position.
It’s not clear what policies Burnham might try to implement if he does become the country’s next leader that would really differentiate him from Starmer. He may be reluctant to make any dramatic changes as Labour will seat him, or whoever replaces Starmer, without winning a new mandate for the party through national elections.
It was Starmer that brought the party back to power with a resounding 2024 national election victory, seizing control of the House of Commons after more than a decade of Conservative rule. So, abandoning policies adopted off the back of that mandate — the things Labour was originally elected to get done — could leave Burnham open to criticism that he’s being undemocratic.
Within minutes of Starmer’s resignation announcement, the Reform party’s Farage demanded a new general election.
“Westminster wants to crown Andy Burnham off the back of a single by-election,” he said. It’s ridiculous to pretend that Andy Burnham has any kind of meaningful mandate to lead the country.”
How would Burnham become prime minister?
Britons do not directly elect their prime minister. They elect their local Members of Parliament. The leader of the party that commands a majority in the House of Commons typically becomes prime minister.
A governing party can change its leader (who is generally the prime minister) if a majority of its lawmakers believe that person has become an electoral liability and, crucially, they can do so without a general election.
Britain has seen a remarkable number of these entirely legal and constitutional but electionless leadership changes in recent years. If Burnham next inhabits the prime minister’s residence at Number 10 Downing Street in London, he will be the seventh person to do so in a decade.
Burnham’s supporters argue that with his strong support in Labour’s traditional northern heartlands and a fresh public profile, he could become a viable alternative and lead the party to a second consecutive win in the next national elections — or at least spare them the electoral disaster that polls now suggest is awaiting the party.
There must be a new national election called by 2027, but the government can call one any time before that to try and win a mandate. The risk, obviously, is the government can also lose its majority in parliament, and the premiership with it.
While widely seen as the likely replacement, Burnham is not the only name to have been bandied about by Labour as a potential successor to Starmer.
Until Monday, Wes Streeting, a former national Health Secretary and prominent figure on Labour’s centre-right, was widely regarded as an underdog, but a likely contender to challenge Burnham for Labour Party leadership.
Less than an hour after Starmer’s announcement, however, Streeting backed Burnham putting more wind in the King of the North’s sails.
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