With that of the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, (Labour Party), his successor will be the 7th to occupy the position in 10 years. The decision was communicated on Monday (June 22, 2026), after the president gave in to internal pressure from his party and chose to give up the role due to the drop in his popularity.
Starmer decided to step down after the Labor Party lost a considerable number of seats in local elections. In Scotland and Wales, the party lost ground to Reform UK and the Green Party. In England, the party lost 1,498 seats.
Starmer was facing a crisis in his government, with calls from members of his party to resign. With the announcement of his exit plan, he paves the way for , who won a seat in the British Parliament on June 18, to become prime minister.
One of the decisive factors in the Prime Minister’s fall in popularity was the appointment of Peter Mandelson to be UK ambassador to the USA at the end of 2024. The diplomat, who was in Jeffrey Epstein’s files, was removed from office in September 2025. The case caused, within a week, 3 senior officials from Starmer’s office to resign.
The prime minister is the first Labor minister to take office after a series of resignations by Conservative Party officials, which began with his resignation in July 2016. At the time, Cameron decided to leave office after failing to lead a campaign against the United Kingdom’s departure from the European Union.
SEQUENCE OF RESIGNATIONS
Campaign leader “remain” (in Portuguese, stay), David Cameron called a popular referendum for the population to decide to remain in the European Union. On June 23, 2016, around 51% of Britons voted to leave the bloc. Less than 1 month later, Cameron resigned from his position.
Successor Theresa May took office in July 2016 and remained in office for 3 years, dedicating herself to leading the country’s withdrawal from the European bloc. However, it began to face difficulties in delivering an agreement on the conditions for leaving the European Union.
The then prime minister was unable to gather enough support in Parliament to approve the Brexit deal negotiated with the bloc, failing to reach a consensus with the Labor Party, which was still firmly against leaving. In his speech, he said that he was “a matter of regret not being able to deliver Brexit”.
He succeeded May in July 2019. Unlike his predecessor, he managed to complete Brexit. The United Kingdom officially left the European Union on January 31, 2020.
However, Johnson’s tenure was marked by a series of scandals that culminated in his resignation. The case “ was mainly responsible for its fall in popularity. The scandal revealed dozens of parties held by the cabinet in Downing Street in May 2020. At the time, London was in lockdown due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
In February 2022, Johnson appointed Conservative Party MP Chris Pincher to the position of deputy head of the government bench in the House. Pincher is accused of groping 2 men at a club. The prime minister knew he was accused of sexual harassment.
Johnson was then replaced by , who remained in office for just 1 month, from September to October 2022. She was the incumbent Prime Minister during the transition to the reign of Charles III.
Truss faced pressure from the Conservative Party after presenting a £45 billion tax cut without detailing how it would be financed. The proposal shook investor confidence, raised fears of inflation and worsened her government’s economic and political crisis, meaning she was unable to sustain herself in her role.
The government was then taken over by , the last conservative to hold the position of prime minister to date. He was the first leader of Indian descent to govern the country and the youngest in 100 years.
Sunak’s term extended to that of all previous Conservative leaders. In May 2024, he called early elections for July of that year. At the time, he explained that he brought forward the election to see if the British supported his plans for economic progress.
Sunak won the elections, gaining just 23.7% of the vote against Starmer’s 33.9%. The current Prime Minister was the first Labor Prime Minister to take office since Gordon Brown, who governed the United Kingdom from 2007 to 2010.
