LONDON >> Prime Minister Keir Starmer said today he would resign, promising to ensure an orderly transfer of power to a new leader by September at the latest to try to avoid political instability as Britain prepares for its seventh leader in 10 years.
In an emotional speech, Starmer said he had listened to his governing Labour Party and realized that he was no longer the man who should lead it into a national election due in 2029.
After spending weeks saying he would fight any challenge to his position as prime minister, Starmer spent the weekend reflecting on his political future at his country residence, watching support for him in the party drain away.
In Downing Street, outside his office and London residence, Starmer said he would ask the Labour Party’s organizing committee to set out a timeline for a leadership contest to find his replacement.
Nominations would open on July 9, close by mid-July, and if there is a contest, a new leader will be in place by September. He did not mention his rival, Andy Burnham, who is widely expected to replace him.
“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 from my parliamentary party to that question and I accept that answer with good grace,” he said.
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After describing the achievements his government had secured in his two years in power, a man who was often criticized for being robotic became visibly emotional, his voice cracking when he thanked his family for their support.
“When I leave the biggest job in the country I will spend more time on the most important job, being the best husband I can to my fantastic wife Vic who has been a rock by my side through good times and bad, and being the best dad I can to my beautiful children who are my pride and my joy.”
Whoever replaces Starmer will become Britain’s seventh prime minister since the Brexit vote to leave the European Union, which took place 10 years ago this week.
That level of turnover — the highest in Britain in nearly two centuries — underlines the struggle of maintaining the support of voters angry at successive failures to improve living standards, public services and tackle illegal immigration.
The threat to Starmer, which had been building for months, increased sharply today when Burnham, the Greater Manchester mayor, decisively won a parliamentary election to return to Westminster, beating a candidate from Nigel Farage’s Reform UK party, which has led national opinion polls for more than a year.
That victory gave hope to Labour lawmakers that Burnham, a career politician known for his strong communication skills, could transform the fortunes of a party that has lost support under Starmer, whose popularity ratings have sunk to the lowest for any British leader.
The pound and British government bonds were steady in the immediate aftermath of Starmer’s announcement, which investors had widely expected.
Despite hoping for a smooth handover, the change is not without risk.
If other candidates decide to enter any leadership race, the party could end up with a divisive contest that could paralyze the government.
Former health minister Wes Streeting still expects to stand in a contest, Sky News reported today, citing one of his allies.
Burnham, who is expected to arrive in London today to take up his newly won seat for the northwestern English area of Makerfield, has yet to flesh out a full policy agenda.
Beyond saying that the country needs fundamental change and that he wants to bring down the cost of living, Burnham has yet to make clear his approach to foreign affairs, the economy and defense.
Like Starmer, he could find he has little room to maneuver, hemmed in by bond market investors opposed to any additional borrowing, and confronted by an angry electorate that believes the country is not working properly.
Britain already has the highest borrowing costs in the Group of Seven wealthy nations due to its high debt and interest payments, years of anemic economic growth, its struggles to cut spending and the need to invest in areas like defense.
Investors spoken to by Reuters were divided over whether Burnham, who said last September that Britain had to get “beyond this thing of being in hock to the bond markets,” would respect the need to reassure markets.
He has since said he was misrepresented.
Additional reporting by Andrew MacAskill, Alistair Smout, David Milliken, Sam Tabahriti, William James.