British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said on Monday he will resign as leader of the Labour Party and as prime minister, remaining in a caretaker capacity until the party selects a successor, expected by the time Parliament returns in September.
The move follows weeks of mounting pressure within his own party after poor results in May’s local elections and growing dissatisfaction among Labour lawmakers over his leadership. That pressure intensified after former Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham won a parliamentary by-election last week by a wide margin, a result that emboldened figures within Labour, including some Cabinet ministers, to call publicly for Starmer to step aside.
In brief remarks outside Downing Street, Starmer acknowledged that his party had questioned whether he remained the right person to lead it into the next general election, and said he accepted that judgment.
His departure means Britain will have had seven prime ministers within roughly a decade, a pace of turnover that follows the 2016 Brexit referendum almost to the day. Health Secretary Wes Streeting, who quit his Cabinet post last month in protest at Starmer’s leadership, has said he would stand if a leadership contest takes place, though he has since indicated support for Burnham.
Financial markets showed only a modest reaction: sterling weakened slightly against the dollar, while yields on 10-year UK government bonds were largely steady, having risen sharply on Friday following Burnham’s by-election win.
U.S. President Donald Trump commented on the resignation on social media, criticizing Starmer’s record on immigration and energy policy while wishing him well. Relations between the two leaders had grown more strained in recent months, particularly over the war involving Iran, which Britain did not join militarily.
