King Charles III has accepted the resignation of Sir Keir Starmer as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Buckingham Palace announced on Monday, bringing to an end a turbulent two-year tenure that was cut short by a Labour parliamentary revolt.
Starmer travelled to Buckingham Palace on Monday morning to formally offer his resignation to the King, accompanied by his wife Victoria.
The palace said the King was graciously pleased to accept his resignation.
Before travelling to the palace, Starmer delivered his final address as prime minister outside 10 Downing Street, saying his work was done and wishing his successor well.
“As I now pass the baton to Andy Burnham, I wish him every success. He has my full support,” he said. “I go with good grace, I go with a smile, and I go proud of everything we have achieved.”
Starmer thanked the British people for the opportunity to serve.
“Every decision I have taken has been about putting the country I love first,” he said.
Andy Burnham, the former Mayor of Greater Manchester and newly elected Labour Party leader, will shortly travel to Buckingham Palace, where King Charles will ask him to form a government, formally making him the United Kingdom’s seventh prime minister in a decade.
Starmer came to power following Labour’s landslide general election victory in July 2024, succeeding Conservative Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.
He announced his resignation on 22 June following a significant Labour parliamentary revolt triggered by falling opinion poll ratings and the rising electoral threat of Nigel Farage’s Reform UK party.
