Keir Starmer has resigned as UK PM. What happened?

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer has announced his resignation from the leadership, less than two years after he led the Labour party to a landslide victory.

It follows months of pressure on Starmer to resign, and days after Manchester mayor Andy Burnham, won a by-election for a seat in Parliament.

Starmer said he had changed the Labour party for the better, and tried to do the same for the UK.

He said he would stay in office until a new leader is elected, and would then leave politics.

Road to resignation

Starmer’s leadership was under threat for several reasons. Here are a few:

1. Starmer approved the appointment of long-time Labour adviser Peter Mandelson as the UK’s ambassador to the U.S. in February 2025, despite published links to the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Mandelson is now under police investigation for “alleged misconduct in public office”. After police began their investigation into Mandelson this year, some MPs called for Starmer to resign.

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1. In May, Labour lost around 1,200 seats at country-wide local council elections, while right-wing Reform UK - led by Nigel Farage - picked up almost 1,400. On the same day, Labour lost its majority in the Welsh Parliament for the first time in history.
2. After these losses, Labour MP Josh Simons gave up his seat to clear a path for Andy Burnham to challenge Starmer for the leadership. Burnham won the by-election for Simons’ seat on Friday.

Starmer

Speaking outside 10 Downing Street, Starmer said: “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... I will resign as leader of the Labour party.”

Starmer said he would stay on as PM until a new leader is elected.

Nominations will open from 9 July and Starmer said he expected a new leader would be in place by the time the UK Parliament sits again in September.