top student in British Guiana. Burnham was unable to travel to the United Kingdom due to World War II, instead working as an assistant master at Queen's college and completing a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of London through external examinations. After he was allowed to travel to London, Burnham received a law degree from the London School of Economics, at the time a constituent college of the University of London, in 1947 or 1948 and was the President of the West Indian Student Union at the University for the year 1947–1948 He went on to pass the bar in 1948, and became a member of Gray's Inn. Burnham met many African and Caribbean students – including Abubakar Tafawa Balewa of Nigeria, Seretse Khama of Botswana and Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana as well as Michael Manley of Jamaica and Errol Barrow of Barbados – during his studies in London. In London, Burnham won the Best Speaker's Cup, awarded by the Faculty of Law. He also attended the Student's Congresses in Prague and Paris, and was a member of the League of Coloured Peoples. He left the United Kingdom to return to British Guiana on 20 December 1948, departing Liverpool on the Empress of France bound for Halifax, Nova Scotia, and arrived in Georgetown in 1949. 1949–1955: The People's Progressive Party (PPP) Founding the People's Progressive Party In 1949, after returning from his studies in the United Kingdom, Burnham entered the private law chambers of Cameron and Shepherd before setting up his own private law practice, Clarke and Martin. Also in 1949, Burnham became the leader of the British Guiana Labour Party (BGLP), which had been formed in 1946. In the 1947 elections the Labour Party had won 5 of 14 seats in the Legislative Council, making them the largest party. Less than a year after his return from the United Kingdom, Burnham was one of the founders of the People's Progressive Party (PPP), which was launched on 1 January 1950. The Indo-Guyanese labour leader Cheddi Jagan became Leader of the PPP, Jagan's wife Janet Jagan became the secretary and Burnham became the first party chairman. Jagan had been the leader of the Political Affairs Committee, which merged with the BGLP to form the PPP. Burnham chose the name of the new party. Minister of Education In 1952, Burnham became the president of the party's affiliated trade union, the