And it was going so well!

That’s sarcasm. It wasn’t going well. Not at all in fact, and it thus came as no surprise that Keir Starmer stepped aside as Labour Party chief on Monday, effectively leaving No. 10 to former Manchester mayor Andy Burnham.

This was a foregone conclusion. The floundering Starmer faced a rebellion among Labour MPs last month following a very tough round of municipal elections in England and what I described, aptly I think, as an “unthinkably poor result in Wales.” He feigned defiance, but the writing was on the wall.

Amid the intra-party stewing, Labour lawmaker Josh Simons resigned as MP for the Makerfield constituency in Greater Manchester, setting up a special election for the newly-vacant seat. Burnham, who’s popular, ran for that seat and won it last week.

Now an MP, Burnham can challenge for No. 10. And challenge he will. Or not. Because it looks like he’s effectively unopposed.

This is self-evident such that if I were writing primarily for a British audience it wouldn’t even bear mentioning, but the whole idea was to clear a path to Downing Street for Burnham.

Don’t get me wrong: Starmer’s not thrilled about this outcome (he nearly cried while announcing his resignation on Monday), but Labour seems to think Burnham’s a last, best hope to preempt and otherwise stave off a nightmare scenario where Nigel Farage and his far-right “reform” party gather enough momentum to take a serious shot at seizing power.

Burnham said as much on social media. “Keir has given huge service to our country and I want to thank him for his leadership and dedication during such a challenging period,” he wrote. “His decision marks the beginning of a transition and it is important that this process is conducted in an orderly and responsible way. I will put myself forward as part of this process.”

Shortly thereafter, the only serious challenger to Burnham, former health chief Wes Streeting, said he won’t stand in the way. “After a devastating set of election results in May, the Makerfield by-election has proven that Labour can still win,” he said, calling last week’s special election “a victory for unity and hope over division and hatred.” (Burnham beat out not one, but two far-right candidates to win the parliament seat.)

“Andy has shown what Labour can be when we are inclusive, united and in touch with the lives of the people this party was founded to represent,” Streeting declared, urging “everyone else” in the party to back Burnham.

For his part, Farage said, “Any normal and fair-minded person would have a perfect right to be concerned if a group of Romanian people suddenly moved in next door.” Wait, sorry. That’s an old quote. I’ll try again.

In response to Starmer’s announcement, Farage lambasted the notion that Burnham will effectively be installed at No. 10. “On May 7, Reform scored absolutely stunning victories in areas that Labour had dominated for the better part of 100 years,” he said, adding that the “sheer scale” of those victories made Starmer’s resignation “inevitable.”

In the same short address, Farage called it ironic that Burnham’s “convincing” win in Makerfield came courtesy of “the same message” that Reform used in last month’s local elections, with only one substantive difference: “Ours was ‘Vote Reform, get Starmer out,’ his was ‘Vote Burnham, get Starmer out.'”

Then, suddenly oblivious to irony, Farage said it’s “unbelievable” that the UK’s about to have its “sixth prime minister in seven years.” “I remember growing up thinking Italy was totally ungovernable going through a new prime minister every year, and that’s where we are here.”

Yes, Nigel. It is indeed. And guess whose fault that (partially) is? Yours. Because in addition to being the UK’s sixth prime minister in seven years, Burnham will be the seventh in 10. And what happened 10 years ago, pray tell? Oh, that’s right, Nigel: You helped orchestrate what, on a lot of quantifiable metrics, was a demonstrably bad decision on the part of the British electorate to leave the EU, despite exit polling strongly suggesting a meaningful share of those who participated in modern history’s most (in)famous referendum didn’t even know what the EU was.

Farage went on to call the UK a “banana republic” and said Reform will “demand” a general election. “We are ready to deliver radical change,” he said. “If Labour thinks it can shove another professional politician into No 10., it has another thing coming.”

Actually, and unless I’m missing something, that’s exactly what’s going to happen. I don’t see any way around it. If Burnham’s the only person vying for Labour leader — and I doubt people are lining up around the block for that particular job — I don’t see any logistical or legislative hurdles to him assuming office within a few weeks.

Anyway, Farage is right about one thing: The UK is ungovernable. And it’s partly (some would argue mostly) Nigel’s fault. In 2012, while haranguing the European Parliament and goading already irritable Greeks, Farage famously said, “I think frankly when it comes to chaos you ain’t seen nothing yet.” He might’ve said the same thing about the controversy and upheaval that ensued in the immediate aftermath of the Brexit vote.

Starmer’s resignation comes two years, nearly to the week, after Labour handed Conservatives their worst-ever election loss. On a list of shortest-serving prime ministers, Starmer will rank third, trailing only his immediate predecessors, Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss who served 619 days and — chuckles — 50 days, respectively.