Keir Starmer resigns as UK prime minister, yielding to a party mutiny
- The San Juan Daily Star
- 2 hours ago
- 3 min read
By MICHAEL D. SHEAR
For months, he tried desperately to avoid this moment.
But on Monday, Keir Starmer finally announced his resignation as prime minister, bowing to a long-simmering mutiny inside his Labour Party. The decision very likely paves the way for Andy Burnham, a popular former mayor, to become the country’s next leader.
Starmer, who vowed as recently as Friday not to “walk away” from his job, said that he would only remain in office until a new party leader was selected. His decision to depart will usher in Britain’s seventh prime minister in a decade, extending a period of political turmoil in the country since it voted to leave the European Union in 2016.
“Every decision I’ve taken has been about putting the country I love first. That is why I will resign as leader of the Labour Party,” Starmer said in front of No. 10 Downing Street. His voice broke with emotion as he thanked his wife, Victoria, for being “a rock by my side.”
His departure will mark a bitter milestone for a party that made a remarkable comeback in 2024 after nearly a decade and a half in the political wilderness. With Starmer at Labour’s helm, the party won a large parliamentary majority and put an end to 14 years of Conservative Party government and its unpopular agenda of fiscal austerity.
But in an ominous sign for Starmer at the time, his Labour Party earned a record-low vote share of 34% in that general election, prompting many analysts to call the victory a “loveless landslide” that made his position inherently fragile from the start.
In office, Starmer increased military spending, raised investment in the National Health Service and reduced illegal immigration. But he increased some taxes to pay for his government spending and flip-flopped on welfare changes and home heating subsidies. His time in office was increasingly defined by political decline, which left him looking weak, indecisive and not in command of his own party.
His standing was further damaged this year by revelations about his decision to appoint Peter Mandelson as ambassador to the United States despite Mandelson’s ties to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Devastating losses for Labour in municipal elections in May were the final straw for many in the party.
Waiting in the wings was Burnham, who had made little secret of his ambition to replace Starmer for the better part of a year. But it was not until last month that a path to Downing Street became clear, when the Labour lawmaker for Makerfield, in northwest England, Josh Simons, said he would resign for the sole purpose of allowing Burnham to enter Parliament and challenge Starmer.
Burnham’s victory last week in that special election energized his bid to become prime minister. His standing in the party was bolstered by his resounding defeat of the candidate for Reform U.K., the populist right-wing party led by Nigel Farage, which has led opinion polls for more than a year.
Burnham said on social media Monday that he would formally seek to replace Starmer, calling the upcoming transition of power “a positive process of renewal for our party and our country.” Moments later, he received the endorsement of Wes Streeting, a former health secretary and another potential challenger in Labour’s leadership race — meaning the party will most likely avoid a bruising contest.