Sir Keir Starmer has said he will quit as Labour Party leader, paving the way for a contest to decide a new prime minister.
Speaking in Downing Street, Sir Keir said he accepted he was not best placed to lead Labour into the next general election and he had informed the King of his decision to step down.
Sir Keir added he has asked Labour’s governing body to set out a timetable to replace him, with nominations opening on 9 July and ending by the summer recess on 16 July.
He said if there was a contest then a new leader would be in place before Parliament returns in September, and he will “do everything” he can to ensure an “orderly” transition of power.
Sir Keir said he would remain as prime minister until the leadership contest is complete.
He added he would also give his successor “my full and unequivocal support, knowing that they will inherit a Britain that is far stronger and fairer than the one I inherited two years ago”.
Andy Burnham is regarded by many as the frontrunner to replace Sir Keir after he secured an emphatic win over his Reform UK rival in last week’s Makerfield by-election.
Burnham announced on Monday that he would put himself forward as a candidate in the leadership contest, hours before he is expected to formally take up his seat as an MP.
His chances were given an immediate boost by former Health Secretary Wes Streeting, who had been viewed as his main rival, offering his backing to the former Greater Manchester mayor.
Sir Keir was elected leader of the Labour Party in April 2020 and became prime minister on 5 July 2024 following Labour’s landslide general election victory.
He will leave Downing Street as the shortest-serving Labour prime minister in history.
His period in office will last longer than his Conservative predecessors Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss but behind all six previous Labour prime ministers.
Sir Keir’s decision to step down also means the UK will soon have its seventh prime minister since 2016. (BBC)
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer pledged Monday to prove the “doubters” in his own party and among the electorate wrong as he struggled to fight off growing demands to step down after devastating local election results for his Labour Party.
Starmer said he would “face up to the big challenges” and restore hope to the country, in part by forging closer ties with the European Union, six years after the UK’s acrimonious departure from the bloc.
“I know I have my doubters and I know I need to prove them wrong, and I will,” Starmer said during a speech in London intended to kickstart his fightback against detractors.
It did not appear to have the intended effect. In the hours after the speech a steady stream of Labour lawmakers spoke to the media or posted on social media saying Starmer should resign, either now or soon.
Several of those calling for him to go were ministerial aides, in an apparently coordinated move aimed at putting pressure on Starmer’s Cabinet to deliver an ultimatum, perhaps at its weekly meeting on Tuesday.
Labour has been plunged into gloom by heavy losses last week in local elections across England and legislative votes in Scotland and Wales. The elections have been interpreted as an unofficial referendum on Starmer, whose popularity has plummeted since he swept to power in a landslide less than two years ago.
Starmer’s government has struggled to deliver promised economic growth, repair tattered public services and ease the cost of living, and been hamstrung by repeated missteps and policy U-turns on issues including welfare reform. He has been further hurt by his disastrous decision to appoint Peter Mandelson, a scandal-tarnished friend of Jeffrey Epstein, as Britain’s ambassador to Washington.
Last week’s elections saw Labour squeezed from both right and left, losing votes to both Reform UK and the “eco-populist” Green Party. The result reflects the increasing fragmentation of British politics, long dominated by Labour and the Conservatives.
Starmer had hoped to regain momentum with his speech and an ambitious set of legislative plans to be set out in a speech Wednesday by King Charles III at the State Opening of Parliament.
In Monday’s speech, he vowed to prove to millions of people “tired of a status quo that has failed them” that the government is on their side.
He said Labour is in “a battle for the soul of our nation,” and warned Britain will go down “a dark path” if Reform UK, the anti-immigration party led by Nigel Farage, comes to power.
Starmer told an audience of party lawmakers and activists that the government will take control of Britain’s energy, economic and defense security and make the country fairer. He announced plans to nationalize what is left of the once-mighty British Steel, a move that could save some industrial jobs in an area where working-class voters have deserted Labour for Reform UK.
Starmer also pledged to put Britain “at the heart of Europe” and forge closer ties with the 27-nation EU. Farage, who spearheaded the Brexit campaign, and Reform UK oppose any move to get closer to the EU.
Brexit has been a drag on the British economy, and President Donald Trump’s “America First” economic and foreign policy has spurred Britain to seek closer defense, security and economic cooperation with its European neighbors.
Labour supporters are largely anti-Brexit, which failed to deliver the benefits its backers promised. But Starmer has been reluctant to reopen a debate that bitterly divided the country. He has ruled out seeking to reenter the EU, or to rejoin the bloc’s customs union or single market, things that would make a big economic difference.
British politics allows parties to change leader midterm without the need for a new election.
None of the high-profile Labour politicians considered potential challengers to Starmer — including former Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner, Health Secretary Wes Streeting and Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham — has yet called for him to resign.
Rayner did not explicitly call for Starmer to quit, but accused him of presiding over “a toxic culture of cronyism” and said the government must “stay true to Labour and social democratic values” and ease the cost of living for working people.
Labour lawmaker Catherine West, who had vowed to trigger a leadership challenge if Monday’s speech didn’t mark a major turning point, said she would hold off for now, though she urged Starmer to resign by September.
More than 60 other lawmakers, out of Labour’s total of 403, also urged him to announce a departure date, with the number ticking up in the hours after the speech.
“I don’t think we saw a plan from the prime minister this morning in order to implement the kind of change that this country needs,,” lawmaker Chris Curtis told Sky News.
Another legislator, Joe Morris, said: “the message from last week’s elections was clear: The prime minister has lost the confidence of the public.”
But some who attended Starmer’s speech said kicking out the man who led them to victory in 2024 would be counterproductive.
“You can’t be changing prime ministers two years in,” said Kevin Craig, a former local councilor in London. “It’s really important we stay grown-up now.” (JapanToday)
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