Last week, Keir Starmer was forced to sit and stand upwind of Donald Trump at the G7 summit in France. Shortly afterwards, the British and American media confirmed that Starmer would announce his gradual resignation as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. That’s what happened today. Keir Starmer left Downing Street with his wife Victoria and announced he will step down as Prime Minister in September, when a new Labor leader will be announced at the big Labor conference. July 4 marks the two-year anniversary of Labour’s landslide victory, but it’s been downhill for Starmer and Labor since then.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced his resignation on Monday, bowing to a mutiny in his party and a challenge to his leadership of the country.
Mr. Starmer said he would remain as prime minister until a new party leader is elected before September, rather than fight to stay in the job he won almost two years ago. His decision paves the way for Britain’s seventh prime minister in a decade, extending a period of political turmoil for the country since it voted to leave the European Union in 2016.
“The question my party is asking now is whether I am best placed to lead us into the next general election,” Mr. Starmer made brief remarks in front of No. 10 Downing Street, where his voice broke with emotion at times.
“I have heard the answer from my parliamentary party on that question and I accept that answer with good grace,” he said. “Therefore I will be stepping down as leader of the Labor Party. I have spoken to His Majesty the King this morning to inform him of my decision.”
The most likely replacement for Mr. Starring is Andy Burnham, whose resounding victory last week in a special election fueled his bid to oust the prime minister. Mr. Burnham, the former mayor of Greater Manchester and one of Labour’s most popular politicians, got almost 55 per cent of the vote in the Makerfield district.
Mr. Starmer’s tenure as Prime Minister began in 2024 when Labor won a large parliamentary majority, ending 14 years of Conservative Party rule. But Labor won a record low 34 per cent of the vote in that election, prompting analysts to call the victory a “ruthless landslide”.
In his remarks, Mr. Touts his record, citing economic improvements, investments in health care, increased military spending, declining illegal immigration and other legislative achievements. It was, he said, “change promised by a Labor government, change fought for by a Labor government, change delivered by a Labor government.”
But the prime minister’s time in office was increasingly defined by political decline, which left him looking weak, indecisive and not in command of his own party. In recent weeks, Mr. Starmer repeatedly vowed to fight any challenge to his position — from Mr. Burnham or anyone else – and said he was not willing to walk away from his responsibility to Britain. In the end, he appeared to accept the political reality that came with being one of the least popular prime ministers in modern British history.
(From the NY Times)
David Cameron really put a curse on Downing Street or perhaps a curse on modern British politics. Cameron’s tenure as Prime Minister lasted six years, but he left office due to the Brexit vote. It’s been chaos ever since – from Cameron, Britain had Theresa May, then Boris Johnson, then poor Liz Truss/salad, then Rishi Sunak and now Starmer. Someone said that seven Prime Ministers in a decade shows that Britain is a failed state. I think it shows that the British media has become far too influential – while there is legitimate criticism of Starmer and Labour, Britain’s media and pale and out of date political class had the knives out for Starmer from the start.
One of the final insults was that Donald Trump also “announced” Starmer’s resignation on Sunday, before Starmer even got to give his speech today.
🚨 BREAKING: Donald Trump says Keir Starmer will step down as PM after he ‘failed badly’ on immigration and energy pic.twitter.com/Y2NmHNePYi
— Politics UK (@PolitlcsUK) 21 June 2026
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.
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Keir Starmer makes an announcement about his future as British Prime Minister, Downing Street, London, UK, June 22, 2026., Image: 1111758032, License: Rights Managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit Limit: Justin Ng/Avalon
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16/06/2026. Evian, France. Prime Minister Keir Starmer watches a concert of world leaders during day two of the G7 leaders’ summit with his wife Victoria, who is hosting French President Emmanuel Macron in Evian., Image: 1110606752, License: Rights Managed, Restrictions: This image is for editorial purposes only. The image may not be used for advertising or commercial use. The image cannot be modified in any way. All images are Crown copyright and may be reused under the Open Government License v3.0, except where otherwise, Model Release: no , Credit Limit: Ben Perry/Avalon
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17/06/2026. Evian, France. Prime Minister Keir Starmer during the ‘Reviving Balanced, Shared and Sustainable Economic Growth for All’ working session as he attends today three of the G7 Leaders Summit with his wife Victoria, hosted by French President Emmanuel Macron in Evian., Image: 1110745926, License: Rights Managed, Restrictions: This image is for editorial purposes only. The image may not be used for advertising or commercial use. The image cannot be modified in any way. All images are Crown copyright and may be reused under the Open Government License v3.0, except where otherwise Model release: no , Credit limit: Ben Perry/Avalon
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Sir Keir Starmer with wife Victoria as he makes an announcement about his future as British Prime Minister, Downing Street, London, UK, June 22, 2026., Image: 1111756913, License: Rights Managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no , Credit Limit: Justin Ng/Avalon
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Keir Starmer makes an announcement about his future as British Prime Minister, Downing Street, London, UK, June 22, 2026., Image: 1111757238, License: Rights Managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no , Credit Limit: Justin Ng/Avalon
