Prime Minister Keir Starmer of Britain announced his resignation on Monday, bowing to a mutiny inside his party and a challenge to his leadership of the country.
Mr. Starmer said he would remain as prime minister until a new party leader is selected, likely by September, rather than fight to remain in the job he won almost two years ago.
The announcement makes Andy Burnham, who won a seat in Parliament on Thursday, the most likely candidate to win control of the Labour Party and become the prime minister.
The former mayor of Greater Manchester, Mr. Burnham is Labour’s most popular politician. His resounding victory last week in a special election, where he received almost 55 percent of the vote, energized his bid to oust the prime minister.
Mr. Starmer’s tenure as Britain’s leader began with Labour’s election victory in 2024, when the party won a large parliamentary majority. But it was on a record-low vote share of 34 percent, prompting analysts to call the victory a “loveless landslide.”
His time in office was increasingly defined by political decline, which left him looking weak, indecisive and not in command of his own party.
In recent weeks, Mr. Starmer had repeatedly vowed to fight any challenge to his position — by Mr. Burnham or anyone else — saying he was unwilling to walk away from his responsibility to Britain.
But in the end, he appeared to accept the political reality that came with being one of the least popular prime ministers in modern British history. U.K. Live Updates » | Michael D. Shear | Reporting from London | Monday, June 22, 2026
LESEN SIE AUCH:
Nur zwei Jahre nach Erdrutschsieg: Britischer Premier Starmer tritt zurück: Keir Starmer zieht nach wachsendem Druck aus der Labour-Partei die Konsequenzen. Bis zur Wahl eines Nachfolgers im September will er Regierungschef Großbritanniens bleiben. »
À LIRE AUSSI :
Royaume-Uni : le premier ministre britannique Keir Starmer annonce sa demission : Le premier ministre, très impopulaire, avait répété vendredi qu’il se battrait pour rester au pouvoir mais la pression a continué de monter ce week-end. Andy Burnham, le maire du Grand Manchester, est le grand favori pour lui succéder. »