UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer could step down after mounting Labour pressure

Keir Starmer is expected to outline plans to step down as UK prime minister amid pressure from Labour MPs.

Image: AFP

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced his resignation on Monday after less than two years in office in a term characterised by policy U-turns and deep public unpopularity.

"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," Starmer said as he choked up in an emotional speech outside 10 Downing Street.

Starmer said the process of picking a new leader for the centre-left party would be launched in July and he would remain as prime minister until his successor is chosen, to be in place before parliament returns from the summer recess in September.

Starmer's main rival, veteran politician Andy Burnham, is due to be sworn in as a member of parliament on Monday after winning a crucial special election on Thursday, allowing him to return to parliament and clearing his path to run for party leader.

"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," Starmer added.

Until the weekend, Starmer had insisted he was going to fight on and remain as prime minister as he fought off challenges and calls to step down.

He has clung to that position for months after multiple scandals and high-profile resignations that piled the pressure on him and his Labour party.

But Britain is now set to get its seventh prime minister in a decade.

Starmer's widely anticipated announcement comes a day before the 10-year-anniversary of the Brexit referendum, which triggered the UK's exit from the European Union and an unprecedented churn of prime ministers.

Starmer has been credited with reshaping Labour into an election-winning party which clinched a decisive victory in 2024, ending 14 years of Conservative rule.

But his term was derailed by missteps ranging from benefits cuts to criticism over defence spending plans.

He was nearly ousted in March over his ill-fated decision to appoint Peter Mandelson, a known associate of the late US sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, as the UK's ambassador to Washington.

He has also struggled to fight off the rapid rise of the far-right, anti-immigration Reform UK party -- which defeated Labour in local elections in May, further weakening Starmer's position.

"I will also give my successor my full and unequivocal support, knowing that they will inherit a Britain that is far stronger and fairer than the one I inherited two years ago," Starmer said in his resignation speech.

AFP