By Ross Munro and Hannah Fortune
Sir Keir Starmer has announced his resignation as Prime Minister and Leader of the Labour Party. This came after waves of resignations by his Cabinet and a term of 717 days as the PM.
After his predecessor Jeremy Corbyn was suspended as a Labour MP following allegations he mishandled antisemitic comments, Keir Starmer became Labour Party leader and Leader of the Opposition in the House of Commons in July 2020. During this time, Boris Johnson was relaxing restrictions to prevent the spread of the Coronavirus after the first national lockdown. Starmer would remain in opposition during the Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak Governments, during which support for the Conservatives had reduced dramatically over controversies including Partygate and Truss’s mini-budget.
Running his campaign on the promise of change, Starmer’s Labour won a majority in the 2024 General Election, becoming Prime Minister in July that year. His decisive victory came after fourteen years of Conservative Government, which had seen the UK through 2014’s Referendum for Scottish Independence, the Brexit Referendum in 2016 and subsequent departure from the European Union, the Coronavirus Pandemic, and the beginnings of major wars in Ukraine and Gaza.
The General Election saw Labour win 412 seats, the Conservatives 251, Liberal Democrats 72, Scottish National Party 9, Sinn Fein 7 and the juvenile Reform Party only 5. Labour gained 211 seats during the election, putting the party comfortably clear of the 326 seats required for a majority. However, with the UK still feeling the consequences of Brexit, and Donald Trump to begin his second term as US President in January the following year, Starmer had a challenging premiership ahead of him.
Advertising his Plan for Change, Starmer’s manifesto promised stability and recovery from the previous Conservative Governments which had caused damage across society. Labour’s five objectives at the beginning of government were: economic growth, clean energy, improvements to policing and the justice system, increasing equality of opportunity for young people, and improving the National Health Service (NHS).
Weeks into government, Starmer faced the aftermath of the Southport terror attack, which led to riots by far-right groups across the country. This marked the beginning of what would become a challenge throughout Starmer’s tenure as Prime Minister: far-right violence against Muslim and black communities. Starmer consistently condemned violence and called out its sponsors such as far-right activist Tommy Robinson and related online campaigns. However, the Reform Party continued to grow in popularity throughout Starmer’s time in government.
Internationally, Starmer presented a strong foreign policy, bringing the UK closer to the European Union, and working closely with French President Emanuel Macron – most notably establishing the Coalition of the Willing to continue supporting Ukraine amid strained relations with the United States. Starmer also encouraged the UK to play a leadership role alongside France in building a coalition to help reopen the Strait of Hormuz. While not maintaining a clear policy on Taiwan, the Prime Minister led successful visits to China and India, introducing the UK-India Strategic Partnership to bolster economic cooperation.
Undoubtedly the largest challenge to Starmer’s foreign policy was working alongside the newly re-elected Donald Trump. Despite achieving a deal that saw the US President lower tariffs to the UK, the pair’s relationship was damaged over Starmer’s attempt to sell the Chagos Islands to Mauritius, as the islands are home to a key military base often used by US forces. Trump’s territorial claims over Greenland further fragmented relations between the US and its European allies. After hearing news that Starmer would resign the President took to Truth Social, posting: “He failed badly on two different subjects: IMMIGRATION AND ENERGY”, but wishing the Prime Minister well.
Under Starmer’s leadership, the UK Government recognised the State of Palestine for the first time in history. However, this remained largely symbolic and only limited military exports to Israel were halted. Wary of mistakes made by at-the-time Prime Minister Tony Blair in Iraq, Starmer restrained from joining the War in Iran, only allowing US aircraft to use UK bases after a drone struck RAF Akrotiri on Cyprus. To allow for increases in defence spending, Starmer also reduced the UK’s foreign aid budget in February 2025.
By the time of the 2026 Local Elections, support for Starmer’s Government had significantly decreased. Labour lost 1,498 councillors, falling behind Reform which gained 1,452, putting both parties at 1,068 and 1,454 councillors respectively. In Wales, Labour lost 35 seats, being overtaken by Plaid Cymru and Reform, pushing the party out of the Senedd for the first time in history. Labour fared better in Scotland, only losing four seats with the SNP remaining in charge at Holyrood, however coming joint second with the Reform Party at 17 seats.
By this point Starmer had already faced serious controversy over the appointment of Peter Mandelson as Ambassador to the United States. With increasing evidence of a relationship with convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein, Mandelson was placed under police investigation. It also emerged the former Ambassador had failed security vetting prior to appointment by Starmer, which the Prime Minister had been aware of. Both Mandelson and Morgan McSweeney (who had helped appoint Mandelson) resigned over the investigation into Mandelson’s relationship with Epstein.
Prior to his resignation Starmer began facing increasing pressure from inside the Labour Party. Six Labour MPs have resigned since May due to dissatisfaction with Starmer’s leadership, including Safeguarding Minister Jess Philips, Health Secretary Wes Streeting, and Defence Secretary John Healey. MPs resigning to show their discontent with party leadership has become a trend in recent years for British politics, with 60 MPs resigning before Boris Johnson’s departure.
Starmer is largely expected to be succeeded by Andy Burnham, the former Mayor of Manchester. While Burnham had made his intentions of challenging Starmer’s leadership clear, he held no parliamentary Labour position. When a by-election was called in Makerfield following the 2026 Elections, it became an opportunity for Burnham to re-enter Westminster. The Labour MP originally in the running, Josh Simons, stood down to allow Burnham to run instead, and Burnham won the by-election with more votes than all of the other candidates combined.
Following the resignation of Starmer, Andy Burnham has made his bid for party leadership clear, but has yet to release any concrete plans. For now, Starmer will stay on as caretaker prime minister, with leadership nominations to be announced on the 9th of July. Should there be a leadership contest, the new prime minister will be announced on the 16th.
