British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has announced his resignation. The 63-year-old said in a speech in front of the government headquarters at 10 Downing Street that he was giving up his position as head of the Labor Party. Starmer continued that he would remain in office as head of government until a successor was elected.
Starmer is bowing to the pressure from his party that has been increasing for weeks. With Andy Burnham, a potential successor is already in the starting blocks. The 56-year-old would reportedly have forced Starmer into a leadership election had the prime minister come to a different decision.
Starmer says goodbye with a shaky voice
“Every decision I’ve made has been about putting the country I love first,” Starmer said. His party has spoken and he wants to listen to it: “For this reason, I will resign as leader of the Labor Party.” He would now take time for his family, Starmer said in a shaky voice and shortly afterwards hugged his wife Victoria, who had come with him to 10 Downing Street.
A few days ago, Burnham won a parliamentary seat by winning the by-election in the Makerfield district – the prerequisite for being able to challenge the Prime Minister. It is still unclear whether another candidate to succeed Starmer at the Labor leadership will dare to emerge. Wes Streeting, who resigned as Health Minister, recently showed ambitions. However, he is expected to line up behind Burnham and be rewarded with a cabinet position.
Calls for resignation for months
Starmer has been going through a serious crisis for months due to miserable poll numbers. He has been under massive pressure in his group for a long time, and recently more and more cabinet members have turned their backs on him. Several ministers resigned. The latest escalation was triggered by a heavy defeat for Labor in local and regional elections in England, Scotland and Wales in May in favor of the right-wing populists Reform UK.
Immediately after the election defeat, Starmer was asked to resign by a number of MPs – but the Prime Minister held on to his office for a long time, citing his 2024 election victory. Shortly before and after the Makerfield election, Starmer was still combative and announced that he would definitely stand for a leadership election. Over the weekend at his country estate Checkers, Starmer changed his mind.
Starmer has recently been moving from one crisis to the next. At the beginning of the year, his position was already hanging by a thread. The main issue was the appointment of Epstein confidant Peter Mandelson as ambassador to the USA. The focus was on how much Starmer knew about his connections with the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
It was initially unclear whether Starmer still had time to work on his legacy. Burnham was scheduled to be sworn in as an MP on Monday. Even those who have since moved on from him recently praised Starmer for leading Labor out of its deepest crisis two years ago.
What’s next for Labor?
The easiest path for Labor now would be for Burnham alone to announce his ambitions for the party leadership – and not another candidate like Streeting. British media described this option as a kind of coronation. Although there would also be a Labor leadership election in this case, this would not have to be decided by the party base in a lengthy process.
During his time as mayor of Greater Manchester, Burnham had become the charismatic darling of the moderate-left wing of the party. British media refer to him as the “King of the North” in reference to the fantasy series “Game of Thrones”. He has long been considered the most promising candidate to succeed Starmer. Without a parliamentary mandate, his hands were tied – the Labor leadership had prevented an earlier attempt to return to Westminster in February.
From the big winner to the big loser
The Prime Minister and his party won a major election victory in the summer of 2024 and entered the legislative period with a whopping majority in the lower house of Parliament. But Starmer was never really able to take advantage of this. A number of legislative proposals failed due to resistance within their own ranks. In addition, the government party has been trailing the right-wing populists Reform UK in polls for months, who could now benefit again from the chaos in Downing Street.
Since the Brexit referendum ten years ago, the British have been used to the heads of government taking the reins. Starmer’s successor will be the seventh person to hold the post in the past ten years.
