Keir Starmer has been under pressure to resign since May after Labour lost more than 1,000 council seats in England’s local elections and heavy rebellion from his own legislators. Following months of mounting pressure, he has finally stepped down.
he is the seventh Minister the UK has had in the last ten years.
He announced his resignation on Monday, June 22, around 9:30 am, in a formal statement delivered outside 10 Downing Street, London.
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 move comes less than two years after Starmer led Labour to one of its largest parliamentary majorities in the 2024 general election.
During the resignation speech, he mentioned that he will remain in post until all contest and any arrangements for a new leader is finalised to ensure a smooth transition of power.
He described his entry into Downing Street as 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.”
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.
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.
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.”
UK Prime Ministers in the last decade
Over the past decade, the United Kingdom has seen an unusually high turnover of prime ministers, with seven leaders holding office between 2016 and 2026.
David Cameron was the first in this sequence, serving from 2010 until July 2016, when he resigned following the Brexit referendum. He was succeeded by Theresa May, who led the Conservative Party from July 2016 to July 2019, a period dominated by Brexit negotiations. Boris Johnson then took over in July 2019 and remained in office until September 2022, overseeing the completion of Brexit and managing the COVID‑19 pandemic.
After Johnson, Liz Truss briefly became prime minister in September 2022, but her tenure lasted only 45 days, making her the shortest‑serving prime minister in UK history. Rishi Sunak followed in October 2022 and served until July 2024, leading for about one year and nine months.
Keir Starmer then became prime minister in July 2024 after Labour’s general election victory. His leadership lasted until June 2026, just under two years, when he announced his resignation amid internal party pressure and electoral setbacks. His departure opened the way for a successor from Labour to be chosen later in 2026.
