UK PM Starmer resigns as Britain faces its seventh leader in 10 years
U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced Monday that he will stand down as Labour leader and prime minister, ending months of political turmoil and opening a contest to replace him.
The announcement follows mounting pressure on the prime minister after Labour suffered heavy losses in local elections in May and faced an increasingly vocal rebellion from his own lawmakers over his leadership and policy agenda.
The move comes less than two years after Starmer led Labour to one of its largest parliamentary majorities in the 2024 general election.
In a statement outside 10 Downing Street shortly after 9:30 a.m. in London, Starmer said he would remain in post until any leadership contest is completed, which he said would help ensure an orderly handover of power.
Labour’s former Greater Manchester mayor, Andy Burnham, won a decisive victory in a special election on June 18, potentially setting up a challenge for the party’s leadership and, by extension, the U.K.’s premiership.
What Starmer said outside Downing Street
In a short speech, a visibly emotional Starmer said that entering 10 Downing Street had been the “proudest moment of my life,” adding that, under his tenure, Britain’s reputation in the world had been restored, with investment secured and improvements in workers’ rights delivered.
However, Starmer conceded that Labour colleagues had since been asking whether he was best placed to lead the party into the next general election.
“I have heard the answer from my parliamentary party. I accept that answer with good grace. I will resign as leader of the Labour Party.”
How U.K markets reacted
U.K. gilt yields jumped on Friday following Burnham’s by-election win. However, he has been keen to placate markets lately, distancing himself from previous statements in which he suggested the U.K. was “in hock to the bond markets.”
GBP/USD.
Kallum Pickering, chief economist at Peel Hunt, said that the U.K. is borrowing too much and that its public debt levels are too high, but he stressed that the country is not a “fiscal outlier” in this regard relative to other G7 countries.
He said that, under Starmer’s leadership, the U.K. had opened itself up to the world, signing new trade deals and delivering 1.5% real GDP growth.
However, Pickering said the U.K. still has the highest borrowing costs in the G7, and has remained the most inflationary economy in the G7 on average for most of the past 10 years.
“This is the thing that the market is concerned about,” Pickering told CNBC’s “Squawk Box Europe” shortly after Starmer’s announcement. “The market now has to price in what a Burnham premiership looks like.”
Why Keir Starmer is stepping down
Starmer and Finance Minister Rachel Reeves have been battling discontent over fiscal policy within their own ranks, while welfare reforms and the appointment of Peter Mandelson — an associate of the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein — as U.S. ambassador, further damaged intra-party relations.
An Ipsos poll published on Friday suggested that 52% of the British public think Starmer should stand down as prime minister, five percentage points higher than in May, while 35% think he should continue.
Seventh prime minister in 10 years
Keir Starmer’s resignation comes almost 10 years to the day since the U.K. voted to leave the European Union. His successor will be the country’s seventh leader in that period, underscoring how political and economic turmoil continue to unsettle British politics long after the Brexit process was concluded.
David Cameron resigned after campaigning for Remain and losing the 2016 referendum. His Conservative successor Theresa May spent three years trying to remodel the U.K.’s relationship with the EU before stepping down. Boris Johnson followed, but was forced to quit in July 2022 after revelations over his handling of misconduct allegations against Conservative deputy chief whip Chris Pincher triggered a wave of ministerial resignations.
Johnson was replaced by Liz Truss, whose September 2022 “mini-budget” of unfunded tax cuts sent Gilt yields soaring and pushed the pound lower. She resigned after just 50 days in office. Rishi Sunak then took over, confronting soaring inflation and a cost-of-living crisis worsened by the war in Ukraine.
Starmer defeated Sunak in the July 2024 general election, returning Labour to power after 14 years in a landslide win. But despite securing a 174-seat majority, Starmer’s government was ultimately weakened by dwindling poll ratings, Labour infighting and growing public frustration over its failure to deliver quickly on growth and the cost of living.
What happens next?
Monday’s resignation announcement now clears the way for a formal process to choose a successor.
Burnham was endorsed Monday morning by former health secretary Wes Streeting, who had been a potential rival for the premiership.
In a post on X, Burnham — who will be sworn in as a member of parliament Monday — paid tribute to the prime minister, and said his resignation marks the beginning of the transition process. Starmer said he would remain in post until a new leader is formally chosen by the party, which could be within weeks if Burnham is unopposed.
“It is important that this process is conducted in an orderly and responsible way. I will put myself forward as part of this process,” Burnham wrote.