British PM Keir Starmer resigns amid party pressure

Hind Al Soulia - Riyadh - LONDON — British Prime Minister ‌Keir Starmer ‌resigned on Monday, paving the way for the United Kingdom to have its seventh prime minister in just over a decade.

He said he was stepping down as leader of the governing Labour Party but will remain caretaker prime minister until a new Labour leader is chosen by the party.

Andy Burnham, who won a special parliamentary election last week, is the front-runner to replace Starmer as Labour leader.

Starmer won a landslide victory at a general election in 2024, but a series of missteps badly damaged his credibility.

"Walking up this street two years ago was the proudest moment of my life. A new Labour government. The first in 14 years. A page in our country’s history turned after years of disappointment and despair," Starmer said in his resignation speech.

“The question my party is asking now is whether I am best placed to lead us into the next general election. I have heard the answer of my parliamentary party to that question. And I accept that answer with good grace," he said.

“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 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,” Starmer said.

The threat to Starmer, whose popularity among voters has nose-dived over his handling of the economy, ramped up on Friday when Burnham, the former Greater Manchester mayor, decisively won a parliamentary election to return to Westminster.

Burnham is viewed as being more left-leaning than Starmer and although ⁠he has said ⁠he will stick to incumbent finance minister Rachel Reeves’ tight fiscal rules, investors will need to see proof.

Ed Davey, the Liberal Democrat leader, said Starmer’s replacement would have to change “our broken politics.”

“The British people are sick of being let down by an endless merry-go-round of prime ministers while nothing really changes for them,” he said. “This time must be different. It can’t just be about changing who’s in No. 10, it has to be about changing our broken politics so we can fix our country.”

Zack Polanski, who leads the Green Party, echoed that saing the UK needs a “bold change of direction.”

Referring to Burnham, who many expect to become the next Labour leader, Polanski said: “The time for half measures and sticking plasters is long gone — if he becomes the next PM, Burnham must be bold or he will be bust.”