Starmer resigns as Labour leader and prime minister

Keir Starmer said he will step down as Labour leader and remain prime minister only until his party chooses a successor, ending a two-year premiership after acknowledging that Labour lawmakers no longer see him as the best person to lead them into the next election.

Speaking outside 10 Downing Street, Starmer said he had informed King Charles of his decision and would ask Labour’s National Executive Committee to set a leadership timetable. Nominations will open on July 9 and the process will be completed by the summer recess, he said, with a new leader in place before Parliament returns in September if there is a contest.

“I will remain in post as Prime Minister until the contest is complete,” Starmer said. “And I will do everything I can to ensure an orderly handover of power.”

Al Jazeera reported that Starmer resigned Monday amid a challenge from new Labour legislator Andy Burnham, after facing a series of scandals and missteps and losing the backing of his party. Starmer framed the decision as a response to Labour’s parliamentary party, saying the question was no longer whether he had changed the party and brought it into government, but whether he should lead it into another national vote.

“I have heard the answer of my parliamentary party to that question,” he said. “And I accept that answer with good grace.”

Starmer opened his remarks by recalling the day he entered Downing Street two years earlier, after Labour returned to power for the first time in 14 years. “Walking up this street two years ago was the proudest moment of my life,” he said. “A new Labour government. The first in 14 years. A page in our country’s history turned after years of disappointment and despair.”

He defended his record as Labour leader, saying he inherited a party six years ago that was “politically, financially and morally bankrupt” and had been written off by critics. He said Labour proved them wrong by changing the party, “ripping out the poison of antisemitism” and restoring trust on the economy, defence and national security.

Starmer also listed what he called the government’s achievements over two years in office: a stronger economy growing faster than peers, wages rising faster than inflation every month since Labour took power, investment secured, infrastructure projects under way, an end to austerity and the fastest fall in NHS waiting lists for 17 years.

He said his government had delivered the biggest improvement in rights for workers and renters in a generation, the biggest increase in defence spending since the Cold War, falling small boat crossings, the closure of asylum hotels, protections for young people from social media and half a million children lifted out of poverty.

On foreign policy, Starmer said Britain’s reputation had been restored through trade deals, support for Ukraine, closer ties with European allies and a renewed commitment to “decency, respect and the rule of law.”

He promised to support whoever succeeds him. “I will also give my successor my full and unequivocal support,” he said, adding that the next leader would inherit “a Britain that is far stronger and fairer” than the one he took over.

Starmer thanked colleagues, Downing Street staff and the civil service. Al Jazeera reported that he was applauded as he approached the podium and became emotional near the end of the speech when thanking his wife, Victoria.

“When I leave the biggest job in the country, I shall spend more time on the most important job,” he said, “being the best husband I can to my fantastic wife, Vic … and being the best dad I can to my beautiful children.”