…Starmer lead the Labour Party since 2020, and was elected Prime Minister in 2024 after the Party won the largest majority in a generation
MON JUNE 22 2026-theGBJournal| Keir Starmer, Monday announced he would resign as British Prime Minister, and said the process will start in September, setting the stage for the country’s seventh prime minister within a decade.
Starmer’s departure caps a premiership dogged by collapsing approval ratings, policy reversals, internal rebellions and a string of high-profile resignations that eroded confidence in his leadership.
Starmer lead the Labour Party since 2020, and was elected Prime Minister in 2024 after the Party won the largest majority in a generation.
Starmer, very emotional during his resignation announced, said every decision he has made in office has been about ”putting the country I love first.”
“The party no longer believes I am the best person to lead it into the next election,” Starmer said, while defending his record in government and citing achievements including economic stabilization, infrastructure investment and reduced NHS waiting lists.
His government faced criticism over welfare reforms, immigration policy, public spending decisions and repeated policy U-turns that opponents said reflected a lack of strategic direction.
By late 2025, opinion polls showed Labour hemorrhaging support to the insurgent Reform Party led by Nigel Farage.
A major blow came from Starmer’s appointment of Peter Mandelson as Britain’s ambassador to Washington.
The appointment later unraveled amid revelations surrounding Mandelson’s past association with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and allegations that information had not been fully disclosed during vetting.
Starmer ultimately dismissed Mandelson and publicly expressed regret over the decision. The controversy became one of the defining scandals of his premiership.
The Mandelson affair triggered a broader exodus from Downing Street.
Among those who stepped down were Chief of Staff Morgan McSweeney and Communications Director Tim Allan.
Earlier departures included senior adviser Sue Gray and other key aides, fueling perceptions of a government in disarray.
The clear favorite to succeed Starmer is Andy Burnham, who recently returned to Parliament through a by-election victory and has rapidly consolidated support among Labour lawmakers.
Other names mentioned as potential contenders include Health Secretary Wes Streeting, Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper and Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner, though Burnham is widely viewed as the front-runner
U.S. President Donald Trump inserted himself into Britain’s political drama before Starmer’s announcement, posting on Truth Social: “Keir Starmer will resign as Prime Minister of The United Kingdom. He failed badly on two very important subjects – immigration and energy (Open North Sea oil!). I wish him well! President DJT.”
Trump’s comments came as speculation over Starmer’s future intensified over the weekend and were seen as an unusually direct intervention by a U.S. president into British domestic politics.
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