Britain’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer makes a statement on his future outside 10 Downing Street on the morning of 22 June 2026, in London. [Getty]
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced his resignation on Monday after fewer than two years in office, in a term characterised by policy U-turns and deep public unpopularity.
It also comes the same day his likely successor, Andy Burnham, is expected to be sworn in as a member of parliament.
“Every decision I have taken has been about putting the country I love first. That is why I will resign as leader of the Labour Party,” Starmer said as he choked up in an emotional speech outside 10 Downing Street.
Starmer said the process of picking a new Labour Party leader would be launched in 9 July, and he would remain prime minister until his successor is chosen and in place in September.
Starmer, who took office in July 2024, has been clinging to power for months after a tenure littered with missteps, policy U-turns, scandals and ministerial resignations.
He was nearly ousted in March, over his ill-fated decision to appoint Peter Mandelson, a known associate of late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, as the UK’s ambassador to Washington.
Labour’s drubbing in local and regional polls in England, Scotland and Wales last month once again intensified the pressure.
The fallout from the May polls saw Makerfield’s previous Labour MP quit, gifting Burnham a path to becoming an MP and challenging Starmer for the party leadership.
A former MP and government minister in the 2000s, Burnham defied national trends by easily beating the hard-right, populist Reform UK party’s candidate.
Burnham, from the so-called soft-left wing of Labour, has provided little detail about his plans for government if he wins power.
Veteran UK politician Andy Burnham confirmed on Monday that he would seek to replace Keir Starmer as leader of the ruling Labour Party and prime minister.
For his part, Burnham, 56, called for an “orderly and responsible” transition after Starmer announced he was stepping down. “I will put myself forward as part of this process,” Burnham wrote on X.
Former health secretary Wes Streeting, who previously said he would join a leadership race, instead said he was backing Burnham, suggesting the former Manchester mayor could become leader without any formal contest.
