Keir Starmer steps down, clearing way for UK's 7th leader in 10 years

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer resigned on Monday, paving the way for Britain to have its seventh leader in just over a decade.

The threat to Starmer had increased sharply on Friday when Andy Burnham, the Greater Manchester mayor, decisively won a parliamentary election to return to Westminster. Burnham defeated a candidate from Nigel Farage's right-wing Reform UK party, which has led national opinion polls for more than a year.

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced his resignation on Monday, less than two years after he won a landslide election victory that promised to end chaos in British politics.

STARMER: "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. I have spoken to His Majesty the King this morning to inform him of my decision. I will ask the National Executive Committee of the Labour Party to set out a timetable. With nominations opening on the 9th of July and completed by the summer recess. In the case of a contest, this will ensure a new leader is in place before Parliament returns in September. I will remain in post as Prime Minister until the contest is complete, and I will do everything I can to ensure an orderly handover of power service."

The threat to Starmer, which had been building for months, increased sharply on Friday when Andy Burnham, the Greater Manchester mayor, decisively won a parliamentary election to return to Westminster. Burnham defeated a candidate from Nigel Farage's right-wing Reform UK party, which has led national opinion polls for more than a year.

That victory gave hope to Labour lawmakers that Burnham, a career politician known for his communication skills, could transform the fortunes of a party that has lost support under Starmer, whose popularity ratings have sunk to the lowest for any British leader. Despite the attempt at a smooth handover, the change is not without risk.

Beyond saying that the country needs fundamental change and to bring down the cost of living, Burnham has yet to make clear his approach to foreign affairs, the economy and defence. Like Starmer, he could find he has little room to manoeuvre, hemmed in by bond market investors opposed to any additional borrowing, and confronted by an angry electorate which believes the country is not working properly.

Britain already has the highest borrowing costs in the Group of Seven wealthy nations due to its high debt and interest payments, years of anaemic economic growth, its struggles to cut spending and the need to invest in areas like defence.

Whoever replaces Starmer will become Britain's seventh prime minister since the Brexit vote to leave the European Union which took place 10 years ago this week.

That level of turnover the highest in the UK in nearly two centuries, underlines the struggle of maintaining the support of voters angry at successive failures to improve living standards, public services and tackle illegal immigration.