Starmer's message came in an emotional speech in front of the famous door of the residence on Downing Street in London.
When I leave the country's biggest job, I will spend more time on the most important job, he said in a trembling voice, referring to the fact that he will now have more time for his family.
Starmer announced that he had listened to his party, which clearly no longer had confidence in him. He is therefore resigning as leader, opening the way for an election within the social democratic Labour Party. Only when this is complete will Starmer resign as Prime Minister, and the new Labour leader will take over as prime minister.
Roll up your sleeves
Labour had a successful election in 2024, but even then there were warnings that it was largely about dissatisfaction with the previous right-wing government rather than enthusiasm for Starmer.
A slide in public opinion since then was brought to a head when challenger Andy Burnham won a by-election the other day and thus took a seat in the House of Commons. Sitting in Parliament is a formal requirement for becoming leader.
Just hours after the prime minister's resignation announcement, Burnham confirmed his candidacy. And recently resigned minister Wes Streeting, who previously signalled he might challenge, is rallying behind Burnham. "We can spend the summer exaggerating small differences, or we can roll up our sleeves and help him (Burnham) deliver the change our party and our country need," Streeting writes on X.
Starmer, however, appears to have considered various options. He said candidates should make themselves known in July and the election must be decided during the summer recess.
If this becomes a fight, it ensures that a new leader is in place when parliament reopens in September.
“No crew”
Britain will have seven prime ministers in a decade. The uproar has divided British politics, favouring the right-wing populist Reform UK, whose party leader Nigel Farage is now calling for a new election after Starmer's announcement.
Burnham doesn't need to rush, though. The formal deadline for holding the next election is not until the summer of 2029. Now he is expected to focus on finding the right staff for a fresh start in the hope of turning around public opinion.
Andy doesn't have a team ready to move into Downing Street; he needs time to prepare, a minister told The Guardian anonymously.
Facts: Two shaky years with Starmer
It took less than two years for Keir Starmer's British government to go from landslide victory to collapse. In the election on July 4, 2024, his Labour Party won almost two-thirds of seats, or more precisely 411 out of 650 seats in the House of Commons.
But British media already pointed out that the victory was “broad but thin.” Labour’s share of the vote was only 34 percent, and in many constituencies the party won because the right-wing vote was split between the old Tories and the new Reform UK.
Starmer was already forced to back down in his first year when he tried to stabilise the budget by cutting grants, for example. And the appointment of Labour veteran Peter Mandelson as US ambassador proved fatal - when Mandelson was revealed to have been close to the notorious sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, Starmer lost a great deal of confidence.
The decisive blow came in the local elections in May this year. Labour lost such large numbers of seats across the country, many of which to the dissident party Reform UK, that Starmer's position became untenable.
2010–2016: David Cameron, Tories.
2016–2019: Theresa May, Tories.
2019–2022: Boris Johnson, Tories.
2022: Liz Truss, Tory.
2022–2024: Rishi Sunak, Tories.
2024–2026: Keir Starmer, Labour.
