Keir Starmer resigns as UK Prime Minister, stays caretaker until Labour picks successor
Britain is getting its seventh leader in a decade. Keir Starmer is resigning as Prime Minister and Labour leader after weeks of pressure over a poor local election showing. He stays on as caretaker until Labour picks a successor, with Andy Burnham the frontrunner.
Britain is entering a leadership transition that will hand the country its seventh leader in a decade. Keir Starmer announced he is resigning as Prime Minister and leader of the Labour Party, ending a premiership that came under sustained internal pressure after a poor showing in early May's local elections. Starmer said he has informed King Charles III and will remain in office as caretaker Prime Minister until Labour selects a new leader. Because Labour holds a parliamentary majority, that successor will become the country's next head of government. His departure accelerated after Andy Burnham, the former mayor of Greater Manchester, returned to Parliament last week by winning a by-election and signalled he would challenge for the leadership. Burnham is widely seen within the party as the frontrunner. The contest follows party rules: a candidate needs the backing of 20 percent of Labour MPs to qualify, and if more than one clears that threshold, the wider membership votes. Labour has set nominations to open on July 9 and close on July 16, when Parliament breaks for its summer recess, with a new leader chosen by September 1 if a contest is required. Starmer's exit comes less than two years after Labour's landslide election win in 2024.