Andy Burnham clocks up 50 days as Prime Minister – one more than Liz Truss

Andy Burnham clocks up 50 days as Prime Minister on Tuesday, meaning his premiership has outlasted that of Liz Truss.

Ms Truss holds the record for the shortest-serving UK prime minister in history, doing the job for only 49 days in 2022.

She was replaced by Rishi Sunak, whose premiership lasted for 619 days until the Conservatives lost the general election in July 2024.

Sir Keir Starmer then became prime minister, but remained in the post for only 745 days before in turn being replaced by Andy Burnham.

Mr Burnham needs to hold the job until August 4 2028 for his premiership to outlast that of Sir Keir.

The latest possible date for the next UK general election is August 2029.

Were the election not to happen until that point, and if Mr Burnham remains in Downing Street for the rest of this Parliament, his premiership will have outrun those of two other surviving PMs: Gordon Brown and Theresa May.

Tuesday also marks the fourth anniversary of the King’s accession to the throne on September 8 2022.

Charles has greeted four prime ministers during his reign – Liz Truss, Rishi Sunak, Sir Keir Starmer and Andy Burnham – and such a rapid turnover in premiers is unprecedented in modern times.

It last occurred more than 100 years ago, during the reign of Charles’s great-grandfather George V, when there was a run of four prime minister between 1922 and 1924: David Lloyd-George, Andrew Bonar Law, Ramsay MacDonald and Stanley Baldwin.

Published: 08/09/2026 by Radio NewsHub