Britain’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer gestures as he speaks with local residents as he visits a housing development in north London, Friday, June 19, 2026. (Peter Macdiarmid\/Pool Photo via AP)<\/small><\/p>\n
2026-06-22T08:32:27Z<\/p>\n
LONDON (AP) \u2014 U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer resigned on Monday, paving the way for Britain to have its seventh prime minister in just over a decade. <\/p>\n
Andy Burnham, who won a special parliamentary election last week, is the front-runner to replace Starmer as leader of the governing center-left Labour Party. <\/p>\n
Starmer won a landslide victory at a general election in 2024, but a series of missteps badly damaged his credibility.<\/p>\n
He\u2019ll remain in the prime ministerial residence at 10 Downing Street until party members vote on a new leader in the next few weeks. <\/p>\n
Here\u2019s the latest: <\/p>\n
Starmer\u2019s voice choked with emotion near the end of the brief statement.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe question my party is asking now is whether I am best placed to lead us into the next general election,\u201d Starmer said. \u201cI have heard the answer of my parliamentary party to that question, and I accept that answer with good grace.\u201d<\/p>\n
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer says he is stepping down as leader of the governing Labour Party.<\/p>\n
Starmer says he will remain caretaker prime minister until a new Labour leader is chosen in the next few weeks.<\/p>\n
Starmer made the announcement after facing growing pressure to hand over to a new leader who can try and revive the government\u2019s flagging fortunes. He has been in office since leading Labour to a landslide election victory in July 2024. In those two years his popularity and that of the party have plummeted.<\/p>\n
As Starmer began his speech, protesters nearby played the EU anthem, Beethoven\u2019s \u201cOde to Joy.\u201d<\/p>\n