Starmer resigns as Prime Minister

Jun 22, 2026 - 06:01

Sir Keir Starmer has resigned as leader of the Labour Party. (Image: PA)

Sir Keir Starmer has resigned as Prime Minister less than two years after winning a landslide victory at the 2024 general election.

Starmer had faced mounting pressure in recent days after challenger Andy Burnham swept to victory in the Makerfield by-election.

In a speech outside Downing Street, the Prime Minister said his position had become untenable and the party would begin the process of electing a new leader.

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

With his voice audibly cracking, Starmer paid tribute to his family and described entering Downing Street as the proudest moment in his life.

The Prime Minister will remain in place until a new leader is elected to “ensure an orderly handover of power”, he said. Nominations for the Labour leadership will open on the 9th July and close by the time parliament rises for the summer recess on the 16th July.

While Andy Burnham is widely seen as the frontrunner for the leadership, should multiple challengers emerge, a contest will take place over the summer with the aim of electing a new leader by the time MPs have returned in September.

A leadership contest will usher in Britain’s seventh Prime Minister in just over a decade. Starmer is the shortest living Prime Minister in Labour’s history.

Burnham, the former Manchester Mayor, made clear his leadership ambitions through the by-election campaign and is seen by many in the party as Labour’s best chance of defeating Reform UK.

Starmer’s resignation marks the end of a premiership that promised to clean-up British politics but ended up mired by political infighting, policy U-turns and accusations of sleaze.

While Starmer has been defiant in recent weeks and insisted he will stand in any leadership contest, he today ruled out that possibility and said it was clear his party had decided he was not the right person to lead the party.