Keir Starmer will resign as leader of the Labour Party and prime minister, he announced in a speech outside No 10 on Monday morning — a decision that will set in motion a leadership contest expected to hand the keys to Downing Street to Andy Burnham as soon as next month.
Standing at the podium, Starmer appeared emotional, almost on the brink of tears, as he said he would leave “the biggest job in the country” to spend more time on “the most important job”, being a husband and father. He had spoken to the King earlier that morning to inform him of his decision.
“Keir Starmer resigns as PM after Labour's election losses, with Andy Burnham poised to succeed him.”
“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 of my parliamentary party to that question and I accept that answer with good grace,” Starmer said, before setting out a timetable for departure.
His resignation follows Labour’s disastrous results in the May elections and Andy Burnham’s victory in the Makerfield by-election, which prompted multiple cabinet ministers to tell Starmer over the weekend that his position was no longer tenable. He said he would remain in post until the leadership contest is complete and give “full support” to his successor.
Nominations for a contest among MPs will open on 9 July and close by the summer recess, with a new leader and prime minister in place by early September. If Burnham is the only candidate, he could become prime minister as soon as next month. Starmer will ask Labour’s ruling National Executive Committee to draw up the terms of the contest, which is intended to ensure a new leader is in place for the party conference in Liverpool later in the autumn.
In his resignation speech, Starmer highlighted his achievements, saying he had rescued the Labour Party from financial, moral and electoral peril and put Britain on a stronger footing economically and in terms of its international standing with allies. He described becoming prime minister as “the proudest moment of my life”.
Reaction from other party leaders was swift and pointed. Nigel Farage, whose Reform UK is currently leading in the polls, immediately claimed credit, writing on his new Substack: “Starmer isn’t the first Prime Minister I’ve deposed, and he won’t be the last. David Cameron. Theresa May. Rishi Sunak. And next up – Andy Burnham. The reason each leader has failed is the same.”
Farage questioned the democratic legitimacy of a prime minister who wasn’t even in parliament during the last election, and called for a general election. “I happen to believe that a mandate from the British people matters. I’ve had enough of waiting around. Britain needs change – real change, not another washed-up has-been shoved into place by the uniparty,” he wrote.
Kemi Badenoch, the Conservative leader, took a different tack, sharing a list of Starmer’s apparent failings on X: “Hiking national insurance, the family farm tax, giving up on real welfare reform, not funding our defence, not drilling our own oil and gas, appointing Peter Mandelson … then lying about what had happened.”
Britain is now due to get its seventh prime minister in ten years. Political advisers and loyal ministers gathered outside No 10 to cheer Starmer as he announced the end of his premiership.