Category: Uncategorized

New Leadership: Andy Burnham became the UK’s Prime Minister on 20 July 2026, following Keir Starmer’s resignation the previous month.
How Rates Move: Prime Ministers do not set mortgage rates directly. Fixed mortgage rates are priced through a financial chain reaction: political uncertainty influences gilt yields, which move swap rates, which then determine what lenders charge.

If you have never heard of SONIA swap rates before, you are not alone. Most people only come across the term when their fixed mortgage deal is ending, and they are trying to work out why the new rates on offer look different from the ones they signed up to a few years ago.