Last Monday (22), the British Prime Minister and the leadership of the Labor Party. His departure, less than two years after Labor’s 2024 victory, prolongs the open plebiscite.
Starmer did not fall due to lack of a parliamentary majority. The Labor Party controls a large majority in the House of Commons. The crisis came from the loss of political authority, the defeat in the May local elections, internal pressure evident in the resignation of ministers and the entry of Andy Burnham into the Chamber, after winning the Makerfield by-election. The dispute was held with the aim of qualifying him for party leadership, since, according to tradition, the prime minister must be an elected member of the House of Commons.
Starmer could have resisted, forcing an internal opponent to challenge him. Under Labor Party rules, the leadership contest can be opened when the leader resigns or when a formal challenger gathers signatures from at least 20% of the parliamentary group. Until 2021, this level was 10%, but it was raised during his leadership, making internal challenges to the party leadership more difficult. The rule now operates in another context. By raising the cost of entry into the race, it could reduce the fragmentation of candidacies and facilitate Burnham’s consolidation. Party rules are not neutral procedures. They are instruments of power.
The British experience leaves four lessons. The first is that parliamentarism is not synonymous with stability. The succession of prime ministers since Brexit shows that no institutional design protects governments against legitimacy crises, economic shocks or party divisions.
The second is that the district majority system can manufacture large majorities with low popular support. In 2024, Labor won 63% of the seats with just over a third of the vote. Translating votes into seats produces a legislative majority, but does not manufacture popular support.
The third lesson is that institutional reforms have contingent effects. The increase in internal disputes, designed to limit competition within the party, may now favor a rapid transition. The same rule that strengthens leadership can facilitate its replacement.
The fourth concerns Brexit. Complex reforms, when reduced to binary choices, can produce effects that are beyond the control of their authors. The 2016 referendum had a turnout of 72.2%, higher than the 59.7% of the 2024 general elections. Still, the high participation did not prevent the process from resulting in instability and difficult delivery.
The recent British experience serves as a warning to political engineering enthusiasts. Parliamentarism, district voting, party rules or plebiscites are not shortcuts to governability.
Institutions matter: they organize incentives and shape the dispute. Changing the rules of the game can alter the speed at which power is contested and transferred. This is not always positive. In democracies, reforms do not shield governments against economic crises, loss of legitimacy, social fragmentation or inability to deliver.
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