LONDON - British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said Monday that he will resign as the country's leader and head of its ruling Labour Party following a heavy defeat in May's local elections that triggered a rapid loss of support in his party.
Starmer had said he would stay on and fight a leadership challenge, but he ultimately bowed to mounting calls within the Cabinet to step aside after his rival, the former Mayor of Manchester Andy Burnham, achieved an emphatic victory against the far-right opposition party Reform UK in a by-election held Thursday.
Starmer said he would stand down once his successor is chosen, with a party leadership election to select the next Labour leader to be completed by September.
"The question my party is asking now is whether I am best placed to lead us into the next general election. I have heard the answer of my parliamentary party to that question, and I accept that answer with good grace," Starmer said in an address outside his official residence, 10 Downing Street.
His resignation means that Britain is set to have its seventh prime minister in around 10 years.
Among possible successors to Starmer, Burnham is expected to run for the party leadership, while former Minister of Health Wes Streeting has also expressed interest.
Starmer led his Labour Party to a landslide election victory in 2024, removing the Conservative Party after 14 years in power.
But his government quickly lost support as his policies failed to ease cost-of-living pressures. His leadership was also damaged by a scandal over his appointment of Peter Mandelson as British Ambassador to the United States, after details of his association with the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein came to light.
