New Delhi: The United Kingdom prime minister, Keir Starmer, has announced his resignation after facing intense pressure from his own Labour party. Starmer’s exit comes only two years after his centre-left party’s landslide victory and becomes the sixth UK pm to exit without completing full term.
In a speech, Starmer said that he will remain the prime minister until his ruling Labour Party chooses a new leader. Starmer said, “The question my party is asking now is whether I am best placed to lead us into the next general election. I have heard the answer if my parliamentary party to that question, and I accept that answer with good grace. Every decision I have taken has been about putting the country I love first. That is why I will resign as the leader of the Labour Party.”
He said that he had spoken to the UK king, Charles III, in the morning, informing him of his decision.
“I will ask the national executive committee of the Labour Party to set out a timetable, with nominations opening on the 9th of July and completed by the summer recess. In the case of contest, this will ensure a new leader is in place before parliament returns in September,” he added. Starmer assured the country that he will “do everything” he can to ensure an “orderly” transition of power.
In an emotional speech, Starmer narrated his immediate plans after leaving the office of the prime minister. He said, “When I leave the biggest job in the country, I shall spend more time on the most important job: being the best husband I can to my fantastic wife Vic, who has been a rock by my side through good times and bad; and being the best dad I can to my beautiful children, who are my pride and my joy.” Starmer’s announcement comes after increased pressure from his own lawmakers and cabinet ministers to resign. This paves the way for the United Kingdom to get its seventh prime minister in 10 years.
Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch called Starmer a “terrible prime minister” and attacked his policies, including the rise in employer National Insurance contributions and “giving up on real welfare reform”. She added that Labour MPs only want higher taxes to hand out more benefits, as the welfare secretary has pointed out. “These are Labour’s choices and their values, regardless of who is running the party,” she added.
Why Labour wanted Keir to step down
The mounting pressure on Starmer came in light of the party’s crushing losses in the nationwide local elections last month.
In addition, Starmer had even struggled to define his agenda while contending with economic stagnation, fallout from the Epstein scandal and difficult relations with the US president, Donald Trump. A day ahead of Starmer’s resignation, Trump took a jab at him, saying Starmer would resign.
Starmer’s tenure was filled with failures to deliver on campaign promises and he had grown unpopular among the voters, something his MPs experienced during their campaigns in May elections. The Guardian notes that despite his poor personal approval ratings, he had seemed on firmer ground in recent months over his handling of the Middle East crisis and refusal to do Donald Trump’s bidding by taking the UK into war with Iran.
However, to add to his party’s discontent, Starmer’s decision to appoint Peter Mandelson as UK ambassador to Washington became the latest development in Labour’s disappointment in Starmer. He was appointed despite his security vetting failing and the Foreign Office overruling the decision. His entanglement with Jeffrey Epstein, the convicted sex offender, is now under investigation by the London Metropolitan Police. Some other grievances included restricting winter fuel payments and welfare cuts. Furthermore, Starmer’s willingness to go back on his decisions made things worse for him, leading more people to think of him as a ‘weak and ineffectual’ leader.
What comes next
The Greater Manchester mayor, Andy Burnham – from the same party, is set to replace him at Downing Street. Andy Burnham is being considered a frontrunner to replace Sir Keir after a decisive victory over his Reform UK rival in last week’s Makerfield by-election, the BBC reported. Burnham announced on Monday that he would contest the race to become prime minister, hours before formally becoming a member of the UK parliament. Burnham was backed by the former health secretary, Wes Streeting, who was considered his main rival.
Burnham, in a post on X, thanked Starmer for his leadership and said the country now expects “stability, seriousness and a continued focus on the issues that matter most and that is what it will get”.
Announcing that he would put himself in the race to become PM, Burnham wrote that the “people want to see progress on economic growth, cost of living, public services, housing and opportunities for the next generation.”
In order to become a Labour leader, a written backing of at least 81 of Labour’s 403 elected MPs is mandated. After this process, a broader vote of party members is carried out to rank candidates in order of preference until one of them clears 50 per cent.