The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Keir Starmer, announced this morning his resignation from both his position in the Government and the leadership of his party, the Labor Party. He will remain in office until his formation finds a new voice. I couldn’t take it anymore. Tremendously isolated even by his main collaborators in the cabinet and in the progressive formation, he has taken the step that the national media had been announcing since Friday.
He leaves, incomprehensible, with a generous absolute majority in Parliament. They throw him out.
Andy Burnham, the popular mayor of Greater Manchester and the strong favorite to succeed Keir Starmer, will officially take up his position as MP this Monday at around 2:30 p.m. local time (3:30 p.m. CET). This is an essential step to be able to aspire to command the party and, subsequently, assume the leadership of the Government.
Starmer, whose low popularity is notable, reiterated on Friday that he would fight to stay in power, but pressure has continued to build over the weekend. He hasn’t uttered a single word since then.
The Labor Party communicated its decision this morning by telephone to King Charles III, who was at Highgrove, his estate in Gloucestershire.
Numerous journalists were stationed since dawn on Monday in front of Downing Street, anticipating some news announced even by the president of the United States, Donald Trump. Before them, he said: “The question that my party is now asking is whether I am the most appropriate person to lead us in the face of the next general elections. I have heard the response of my parliamentary group to that question and I gladly accept it.”
He has done it at that classic lectern in front of the official residence and office of the British leaders, which has already become the corner of goodbye: since the endorsement on Brexit was approved 10 years ago (the anniversary is tomorrow, since everything coincides), six prime ministers have passed by there: David Cameron, Theresa May, Boris Johnson, Elizabeth Truss, Rishi Sunak and Starmer himself. So whoever arrives will be the seventh premier in a decade.
The Labor Party has described the moment he became prime minister as the “proudest” moment of his life, but now time is different and his goal, he says, will be to do everything possible to ensure an orderly transition of power and give his successor his full support.
He says that now, after leaving the “most important job in the country,” he will dedicate more time to the “most important job.” “Trying to be the best possible husband for my fantastic wife Vic, who has been a fundamental pillar at my side through thick and thin,” he said, containing the emotion of the moment, which he had kept reasonably well controlled until then. “And be the best father I can be for my beautiful children, who are my pride and joy,” he insisted. The hug with his wife, Victoria, just before re-entering number 10 was the culmination of his words.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer hugs his wife Victoria after announcing his resignation outside 10 Downing Street in London on June 22, 2026.
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