Another new Prime Minister…and another new former Prime Minister

20th July 2026 * Regular readers of this blog will recall that there is nothing unusual and indeed nothing wrong with our political system’s capacity to eject Prime Ministers from office. As set out in a previous post, it is that we keep appointing poor Prime Ministers that is the problem, not that we are deft at getting rid of them: an input issue not an output issue. In essence – our body politic retains an admirably efficient discharge system for getting rid of poor PMs, it is the diet which is at fault. And regular readers will also recall that changing Prime Ministers mid-term is pretty much the norm and not the exception. Every Prime Minister since 1974 has either gained office or left office mid-term (and sometimes both). It is important to remember that we have a parliamentary system and not a presidential system. And so what is happening today, with the appointment of Andrew Burnham to replace Keir Starmer is not even a constitutional drama, let alone a constitutional crisis.…