Keir Starmer resigned on Monday as UK Prime Minister and stepped down as leader of the Labour Party, telling his party he would give full support to his successor. He informed Karol III of the decision in the morning, ending a tenure that began in July 2024 and opening a leadership contest inside the Labour Party and the UK government.
Starmer said he wanted to spend more time being the best husband to Vic and the best father to his children, and he asked the Labour Party's National Executive Committee to set a timetable for choosing a new leader. The party is expected to choose that leader in the summer, leaving the government with a short transition period before the handover at the top.
Downing Street 10
Starmer said he inherited a Labour Party that was political, financial and moral bankrupt, and that he had “udowodniłem tym ludziom, że się mylili” after others had said the party was “skończona”. He also said his own party had asked whether he was capable of leading it to victory in the next election, adding: “Usłyszałem odpowiedź i przyjmuję ją z godnością.”
He tied that judgment to the work of government, saying Labour had lost “znakomitych radnych Partii Pracy w całym kraju” in the May local elections and that “To boli i powinno boleć, biorę za to odpowiedzialność”. That setback weakened his leadership and followed losses to populists from Nigel Farage's group.
Andy Burnham
Pressure had already been building inside the government, with a wave of departures preceding Starmer's own decision. He had maintained until the end that he did not intend to step down, even as ministers were reportedly urging him to leave.
Andy Burnham emerged as the strongest candidate after being allowed to stand in the June by-elections to the House of Commons and winning there, which put him in position to lead the new government. Starmer said he would leave office and spend more time in “najważniejszej roli” at home, while still giving his successor “udzieli pełnego poparcia”.
National Executive Committee
The next step now rests with the National Executive Committee, which must set the timetable for the leadership contest. That process will decide who takes over both the Labour Party and the UK government in the summer, with Burnham the clearest name to emerge from the sequence of losses, departures and Starmer's resignation.
