Why Keir Starmer really resigned as UK Prime Minister?

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced on Monday that he is stepping down after facing months of mounting pressure, setting in motion a leadership contest that will result in Britain’s seventh prime minister in ten years, as reported by AFP.

Speaking outside 10 Downing Street, Starmer, who has served as prime minister since July 2024, acknowledged that he no longer had the confidence of Labour Party lawmakers.

He stated that he had notified King Charles III of his resignation, allowing the Labour Party to choose a new leader who will subsequently become the country’s next prime minister.

“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,” he said.

Starmer’s grip on power had been weakening since Labour suffered significant losses in the local and regional elections held in May.

The pressure intensified after it was confirmed last week that his political rival, Andy Burnham, would return to Parliament, paving the way for what many expected to be a challenge for the party leadership.

Burnham, a veteran Labour politician, is due to take up his seat in the House of Commons later on Monday after winning a parliamentary by-election in Makerfield, northwest England, on Thursday, as reported by AFP.

“The question my party is asking now is whether I am best placed to lead us into the next general election,” Starmer said, as senior ministerial colleagues looked on.

"I have heard the answer of my parliamentary party to that question, and I accept that answer with good grace. Every decision I have taken has been about putting the country I love first. That is why I will resign as leader of the Labour Party," he added, choking up in an emotional speech.

Starmer said he had asked Labour's National Executive Committee to set out a timetable for his replacement, with nominations due to open on 9 July.

"This will ensure that a new leader is in place before parliament returns in September" after the summer recess, he explained.

Attention now turns to whether Burnham will become leader without a contest, as many Labour MPs have called for, or whether another candidate such as ex-health minister Wes Streeting decides to run as well.

Under Labour's rules, the leader of the centre-left party must be a member of parliament.

Whoever succeeds Keir Starmer will become Britain's seventh prime minister since the 2016 Brexit referendum, highlighting a decade of political instability, Reuters reported.

Such a rapid turnover of leaders—the highest Britain has seen in almost 200 years—reflects the difficulty governments have faced in retaining public support amid frustration over stagnant living standards, strained public services, and concerns about illegal immigration.