London: British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has announced he will resign as leader of the Labour party, paving the way for Britain’s seventh leader in a decade.
Less than two years after he won a landslide election victory that promised to end chaos in British politics, Starmer said he would do everything he could to ensure an orderly handover of power, and would give his successor his full support.
The move follows Starmer’s steep slide in the polls.
His government suffered backbench revolts over welfare and spending policies, a tax scandal claimed deputy prime minister Angela Rayner, and Starmer’s judgment was called into question over his appointment of Peter Mandelson, a friend of sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, as Britain’s ambassador to the US.
Last month, Labour lost hundreds of council positions in local government elections, triggering grave doubts about the party’s fortunes.
The threat to Starmer, which has been building for months, increased sharply on Friday when rival Andy Burnham, the Greater Manchester mayor, decisively won a byelection to return to Westminster, beating a candidate from Nigel Farage’s Reform UK party, which has led national opinion polls for more than a year.
More to come
Read more about the pressure on Starmer
David Crowe is Europe correspondent for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.Connect via X or email.From our partners
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