Shehabuddin Kisslu: British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has announced that he is stepping down as leader of the governing Labour Party and will leave office within weeks. On Monday, Starmer says he will remain caretaker prime minister until a new Labour leader is chosen by the party while announcing his resignation. Starmer leaving 10 Downing Street’s two years after being elected in a landslide.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Monday, made the announcement outside the prime minister’s 10 Downing St. residence, said he would resign as the leader of his party and as prime minister, setting the stage for the United Kingdom’s seventh prime minister within a decade.
“The question my party is asking now is whether I am best placed to lead us into the next general election,” he said outside 10 Downing Street. “I have heard the answer of my parliamentary party to that question, and I accept that answer with good grace.”
Keir Starmer who said, he spoke on Monday with King Charles, said he expected to remain in office until a successor was chosen from within his Labour Party.
Starmer said he asked party leaders to open nominations for a successor on July 9. He did not give a date for his departure from 10 Downing Street, but said he expected a new prime minister to be in place by September, when Parliament returns from its summer recess.
Starmer was elected to lead the country in a general election 2024. His replacement is expected to be chosen by his party. He had been led the Labor since 2020.
“People want to see progress on economic growth, cost of living, public services, housing and opportunities for the next generation,” Starmer said. “Political change should never distract from the responsibility to improve people’s lives.”
Starmer long said he intended to see out his full five-year term, which began with his party’s 2024 landslide election victory, which also delivered Labour a historic majority in the House of Commons.
The resignation announcement followed months of turmoil for Starmer, with some members of his own party criticizing his leadership, saying he had not been able to deliver the rapid change needed after taking office following 14 years of Conservative Party rule in Britain.
Many in Starmer’s Labour party had written to Starmer asking him to step down following local elections in May, which saw the party lose more than 1,000 seats on local councils, results that were widely interpreted as a repudiation by British voters of Labour’s performance under the prime minister’s leadership.
Andy Burnham who won a special election on Friday to become a member of parliament representing Makerfield, was expected to be sworn in in the House of Commons on Monday.
Following Starmer’s announcement, Burnham said on social media that he would seek a nomination in the Labour leadership contest.
Starmer is the sixth prime minister in a decade to stand outside 10 Downing Street and announce a premature departure. It comes the day before Britain marks the 10th anniversary of its vote to leave the European Union, a decision that still roils the country’s economy and politics.
U.S. President Donald Trump weighed in even before an announcement, linking Starmer’s potential exit to two of his recurring bugbears: immigration and renewable energy.
“Keir Starmer will resign as Prime Minister of The United Kingdom. He failed badly on two very important subjects- IMMIGRATION AND ENERGY (OPEN NORTH SEA OIL!). I wish him well! President DJT,” Trump posted on his social media platform.
It was unclear whether Trump was responding to media reports about Starmer’s plans. The two leaders didn’t speak over the weekend.
