Posted in: Sky One, TV | Tagged: SNL UK

SNL UK Cold Open Breaking News: Starmer Out, Andy Burnham New UK PM

Breaking news in the world of SNL UK Season 2 Cold Opens: Keir Starmer is officially out and Andy Burnham is the new UK Prime Minister.

Here's something to ramble around in your brain for a bit. The UK has had nearly as many Prime Ministers in the past ten years as Sky's Saturday Night Live UK had episodes during its first season, with SNL UK edging out the win: 8 episodes, as compared to 7 Prime Ministers. In case you hadn't heard, or you're just waking up to the news, Andy Burnham is now the seventh Prime Minister – taking over for Keir Starmer, who was cut off at the knees politically by a toxic combination of lousy poll ratings, a brutal impact on recent local elections, and way too many Jeffrey Epstein/Peter Mandelson-related questions that had to be answered. After officially becoming the leader of the Labour Party heading into the weekend, Burnham is just going through the motions with King Charles III and all of that to make it official. And that brings us to an interesting situation for SNL UK…

Previously, we noted that SNL UK was likely taking a wait-and-see approach to who would be the show's political focus. But with that now much clearer, it will be interesting to see just how much of a role George Fouracres' Starmer plays in the Cold Open or other political sketches moving forward. On the other side of things, we could be looking at Paddy Young getting more of the Cold Open spotlight, creating an interesting situation. Young would be taking on what's expected to be a major recurring role (assuming the UK doesn't get another Prime Minister before September)  while also continuing to co-anchor "Weekend Update" with Ania Magliano. Interestingly enough, SNL's Colin Jost has been doing the same thing during Season 51: continuing as "Weekend Update" co-anchor and as Trump's Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth.

SNL UK Season Finale Cold Open Takes on UK PM Starmer, Eurovision

As the rumblings continued to grow that UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer was either setting up for a brutal political fight or setting a timeline for his leaving office, we'll give you three guesses what the hot topic was for the Ncuti Gatwa-hosted season finale of SNL UK. That said, we have to give the show all the flowers for finding a brutally fun way to approach that steaming pile of political mess. Joined by a real estate agent, Wes Streeting (Jack Shep), the former health secretary, is given a tour of Number 10 Downing Street. As he's getting a layout of what could be his new residence, former Conservative Prime Minister Liz Truss (Annabel Marlow) jumps out from a cupboard, urging, "Give me another chance."

Though finding the residence an "amazing property," Streeting can't help but feel like there's a catch. "Yeah, there is a bit of a catch. If you live here, everyone in the country is going to hate you," the real estate agenet reluctantly admits – but that's not a problem. "That's okay. I don't have any feelings," Streeting responded. From there, we had Andy Burnham calling for "a change, for an outsider, a disrupter," before being reminded that he was an MP for 16 years and voted for the Iraq War. Angela Rayner (Celeste Dring), the former deputy prime minister who resigned after it was revealed she failed to pay property tax (stamp duty), also stepped up – though she had a question she needed answered first. "How much do you reckon stamp duty is in a place like this? And would I have to pay it?"

At this point, Starmer had had about enough, interrupting his enjoyment of the Eurovision finals to storm down and give them all a piece of his mind (and take a few digs at the controversy surrounding the global singing competition). "This is the one program I still enjoy. Every time I turn on the news, it's just a sad picture of me. 'Eurovision' is the only show left with any integrity. I love how they stood up to Russia after they invaded Ukraine. And I love the wonderful song Israel sang," Starmer argued. "You know what, all of you out, because as far as I know, I'm still the Prime Minister, and I will be for at least the next 75 minutes," the current PM added, offering what could best be described as someone attempting to demonstrate anger and frustration (while not actually looking to upset anyone).

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