Andy Burnham, ​nicknamed the “King of the North”, will become leader of Britain’s governing Labour Party ‌on Friday, the final step before becoming its seventh prime minister in a decade on a pledge to thwart the rise of the populist Reform UK.

At a conference on Friday, Burnham, who earned the regal moniker ​for his determination as mayor of Greater Manchester to defend the region’s interests, will ​be elected after gaining overwhelming support from Labour lawmakers.

The event is little more ⁠than a formality before he replaces Keir Starmer as Britain’s leader on Monday, when the party ​will be eager to find out his cabinet team and learn more about his approach to ​government.

Burnham’s big ‘rebalancing of power’

Burnham, 56, has given one speech since returning to parliament last month by winning a parliamentary seat in Makerfield, the start of a four-week process to install him as prime minister and remove ​Starmer, whose unpopularity across Britain turned his lawmakers against him.

In it, he sketched out some ​of his domestic agenda, saying he wanted to oversee the “biggest rebalancing of power” from London to Britain’s regions — ‌something he ⁠believes will reduce inequality and reduce the anger felt by left-behind communities who have increasingly flocked to Reform.

That message of having a plan to thwart the rise of Reform won over Labour lawmakers, who feared they would lose their parliamentary seats to veteran Brexit campaigner Nigel Farage’s populist ​party, which has topped ​the opinion polls for ⁠months, at the next national election, due by 2029.

Some of that sheen has been tarnished in recent weeks by Farage’s acceptance of funds ​from wealthy donors, perhaps giving Burnham an opening to revive Labour’s fortunes.

Yet ​he does ⁠not have much time.

With a general election no more than three years away, Burnham will need to start implementing some of his pledges, many of which are based on long-term thinking, as fast ⁠as possible.

Nigel ​Wilcock, executive director at the Institute of Economic Development, ​an independent body representing economic development professionals, said Burnham had spent years making the case for a different approach to economic ​growth.

“The challenge is turning that vision into a reality.”