Virendra Pandit
New Delhi: Europe—particularly the United Kingdom—laughed derisively at India’s political instability in the 1977-1999 period. On Monday, Sir Keir Starmer became the sixth British Prime Minister to quit in 10 years!
Following dissidence in his party, he announced to quit, setting out a timetable to step down from Downing Street in the wake of a series of significant setbacks for the ruling Labour Party. Following poor performances in local elections and a major by-election victory for rival Andy Burnham, political pressure on Starmer intensified, culminating in a formal leadership challenge and his decision to trigger an orderly transfer of power, the media reported.
Burnham is due to be sworn in as a Member of Parliament on Monday.
Starmer, 63, said he will remain caretaker PM until a new Labour leader is chosen in the next few weeks, to take over by September, and pledged his full support to the new leader.
He made the announcement after facing growing pressure to hand over to a new leader who can try and revive the Labour government’s flagging fortunes. He has been in office since leading the party to a landslide election victory in July 2024. In those two years, however, his popularity and that of the party have plummeted.
The immediate trigger for his departure was the victory of Burnham in a special election last week. Burnham, the former mayor of Greater Manchester and a popular figure within the Labour Party, had been preparing to challenge Starmer for the party leadership.
In his address outside 10 Downing Street, Starmer acknowledged the internal questions regarding his leadership and the party’s future, stating, “I know the question being asked now is, who is best charged to take labour forward. The question the party is asking is if I am best placed to lead party into the next election…I have heard that answer from my party colleagues, and I accept. Every decision I’ve taken has been about putting the country I love first. That is why I will resign as leader of the Labour Party.”
“I have spoken to His Majesty the King this morning to inform him of my decision. I will ask the Labour National Executive to start the process to ensure a new leader is in place before the next parliament session in September…I will give my successor the full support knowing that they will inherit a stronger Britain to ensure Labour gets a second term.”
US President Donald Trump said in a post on Truth Social on Sunday that Starmer “will resign” as prime minister. A UK official said that nothing had been communicated to Trump from the government and he had not spoken to Starmer.
Discontent with Starmer has been building for months, with Labour lawmakers desperate to reverse the government’s decline in popularity since Starmer led the center-left party to a landslide victory in July 2024.
He has struggled to deliver promised economic growth, repair tattered public services and ease the cost of living, and has been hamstrung by repeated missteps, including his decision to appoint Peter Mandelson, a scandal-tarnished friend of Jeffrey Epstein, as the UK ambassador to the United States.
Labour is losing liberal voters to the growing Green Party and facing a rising Reform UK, the Nigel Farage-led anti-immigration party that consistently leads in nationwide opinion polls.