UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer resigns, Britain's seventh PM in ten years
UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer announced his resignation on Monday under intense party pressure after losing the Burnham by-election. Sterling fell, gilt yields rose and a Labour leadership race opened formally as Britain prepares to install its seventh prime minister in a decade.
Sir Keir Starmer announced from a Downing Street lectern that he was resigning as prime minister and Labour leader, in an emotional statement. The decision, less than 18 months after a landslide 2024 election win, came in the wake of Labour's defeat to Reform UK at the Burnham by-election in the party's northern heartland.
France 24 reports that former Manchester mayor Andy Burnham is the frontrunner in the leadership race. A senior cabinet minister told reporters that the economy and lost mid-term contests had « finally caught up » with a premiership unable to deliver stability. Starmer told the country he was « leaving the biggest job, but never the duty I owe ».
Markets reacted sharply: sterling fell 0.7% against the dollar, the 10-year gilt yield rose 12 basis points and the FTSE 100 closed 0.9% lower. A statement from the King is expected after his audience with the outgoing premier. Under Labour rules the leadership contest must conclude within six weeks; the new prime minister is expected to take office by mid-July.
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