• Starmer set to step down: Keir Starmer announced he will resign amid mounting pressure from his own lawmakers, paving the way for a seventh British prime minister in a decade.
• Potential successor: Andy Burnham, the former mayor of Greater Manchester, was sworn in as a lawmaker, and looks likely to replace Starmer within weeks. Another potential challenger, former health minister Wes Streeting, backed Burnham and ruled himself out.
• Political upheaval: Starmer’s announcement came just two years after his center-left Labour party swept into power with a landslide majority – and almost 10 years to the day since Britain voted to leave the European Union, plunging the country into a decade worth of political instability.
31 Posts
Thanks for following our coverage today, you can look back at Monday’s developments below, and read the full story here.
Video Ad Feedback
How Keir Starmer's leadership came to an end
2:21 • Source: CNN
How Keir Starmer's leadership came to an end
2:21
Video Ad Feedback
UK House of Commons cheers as Andy Burnham sworn in as a member of parliament
1:31 • Source: CNN
UK House of Commons cheers as Andy Burnham sworn in as a member of parliament
1:31
Andy Burnham, the frontrunner to replace Keir Starmer as Britain’s prime minister, has been sworn in as a member of parliament, days after he won a crucial by-election in Makerfield, northwest England.
Video Ad Feedback
Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch reacts to Starmer's resignation plans
0:34 • Source: CNN
Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch reacts to Starmer's resignation plans
0:34
Keir Starmer resigned as the UK’s Prime Minister earlier today and hours later, his likely successor, Andy Burnham, arrived in London to be sworn in as a lawmaker.
Here’s a look back at how things have unfolded today in London so far:
The governing Labour party currently holds 403 out of the total 650 seats in the British parliament.
In July 2024, the party secured a landslide general election victory after 14 years in the political wilderness.
The UK’s Parliament is made up of two entities: the House of Commons and the House of Lords.
Elected Members of Parliament (MPs) make up the 650 representatives in the House of Commons, while the roughly 800 people in the House of Lords are appointed there, without input from the public.
Andy Burnham, the frontrunner to succeed Keir Starmer as Britain’s prime minister, has just arrived in London to take his seat in parliament for the first time.
He was greeted by a media scrum as he got off the train from Manchester, where he served as mayor for almost a decade.
Video Ad Feedback
Andy Burnham looks set to be next PM after a key potential challenger backs him instead
0:34 • Source: CNN
Andy Burnham looks set to be next PM after a key potential challenger backs him instead
0:34
If you’re just joining us, here’s everything you need to know so far:
In his resignation statement earlier today, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he “inherited a Labour party that was politically, financially and morally bankrupt” six years ago.
Ireland’s prime minister (Taoiseach) Micheál Martin has responded to the announcement of Keir Starmer’s resignation, commending the effort he made to reset relations between London and Dublin.
Video Ad Feedback
Londoners welcome Starmer's resignation as PM
1:17 • Source: CNN
Londoners welcome Starmer's resignation as PM
1:17
Keir Starmer is “a decent guy” despite losing the support of lawmakers within his own governing Labour Party, according to one Londoner responding to the UK prime minister’s resignation today.
You can watch the video above for more reactions.
Global leaders have been reacting to UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s resignation this morning.
As we’ve been reporting, Starmer was visible on the world stage amid a number of global crises.
Here are some of the career tributes we’ve been seeing:
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky thanked Starmer for his “support and the joint decisions that have helped make our Europe and our protection of life stronger.” He added that “every meeting and every conversation we have had has always been filled with real substance.”
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told Starmer “it can take many leaders years to grow into the statesman you became in just two years. European and Ukrainian security is stronger because of you.”
And, referencing Starmer’s efforts to reset the UK’s relationship with Europe following Brexit, European Council President António Costa said “we turned a new page in EU-UK relations. The EU is committed to continued cooperation in this spirit.”
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Starmer “can be proud of the contribution he has made to the country he loves and to the Labour Party that he led back to Government in 2024.”
Meanwhile, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Moscow “won’t remember him for anything remarkable during his tenure,” adding that “it’s unlikely anyone in the UK political scene will have a different position on our bilateral relations than Keir Starmer.”
In his resignation speech a short while ago, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer listed some of his achievements as leader of the United Kingdom over the last two years, and touted “rebuilding our relationship with our allies in Europe” as one of them.
Shortly afterward, Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, responded on X to Starmer, writing that “European and Ukrainian security is stronger because of you.”
Almost exactly a decade ago, the UK voted to leave the European Union by a razor-thin margin. Starmer spent the last two years trying to rebuild his country’s relationship with the bloc.
Last May, the UK and EU formed a “Security and Defence Partnership,” to enhance their “co-operation on the major shared challenges to European security,” including Russia’s war in Ukraine.
Britain and France have worked especially closely on international issues under Starmer’s leadership, with the two countries agreeing earlier this year to deploy forces in Ukraine to guarantee post-war security should a peace deal be struck with Russia.
Paris and London, alongside Germany, make up the E3 alliance, an informal group of countries who have also worked together on several geopolitical issues over the past years.
Last year, the three countries banded together to draft a counter-proposal to the United States’ draft 28-point Ukraine peace plan, and they have also issued joint statements on the conflict in the Middle East.
Figures from across Europe, including Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya and former Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala, responded on X to Starmer’s resignation.
President Donald Trump did not wait for Keir Starmer to announce his resignation as UK prime minister Monday to offer some half-hearted well wishes.
“Keir Starmer will resign as Prime Minister of The United Kingdom,” Trump wrote on social media Sunday, almost 24 hours before Starmer made the decision official. He added: “I wish him well!”
The early heave-ho from Britain’s most important ally was a tidy illustration of where the “special relationship” stands in the era of Trump.
Few leaders have worked to cultivate Trump with as much enthusiasm as Starmer and for a while, it seemed to work. Starmer’s hand-delivered invitation from King Charles III for a state visit last year seemed to genuinely stun the president in the Oval Office. The two men were quick to strike a new trade agreement amid Trump’s tariff threats, though it left some more difficult issues unresolved.
An enduring image of the men’s relationship may have come at the G7 summit last year in Canada, when a pile of papers related to the trade deal slipped out of Trump’s hands and Starmer rushed to collect them.
For all of his efforts to become Europe’s Trump whisperer, however, Starmer eventually found himself where so many leaders have before: unable to fulfill Trump’s demands, and the subject of scorn.
Trump mocked Starmer mercilessly when the UK declined to join in the war against Iran, deriding him as “not Winston Churchill.” He compared Britain’s Navy to “toys” and questioned whether the “special relationship” was still quite as special.
Starmer, wary of being dragging into an unpopular American war, rejected Trump’s pressure, at one point declaring himself “fed up” with Trump’s taunts. One columnist called it his “Love Actually” moment, a reference to the fictional prime minister played by Hugh Grant publicly defying his American counterpart.
But it apparently did little to endear Starmer to the public or to Trump. The two men did not meet one-on-one at last week’s G7 summit.
Six prime ministers have stood outside London’s Downing Street in the space of a decade.
Their custom podiums have changed, but their script has stayed the same: “I’m resigning.”
Here’s who has occupied the Prime Minister’s residence since 2016.
- David Cameron, Conservative — 2010-2016: Won two elections, but resigned after losing the Brexit referendum which he called mostly to appease rebels in his own party.
- Theresa May, Conservative — 2016-2019: Appointed because she was seen as a safe pair of hands that could deliver Brexit, but was undermined by constant infighting over the issue. Called an election to strengthen her hand, but ended up losing the majority she had. Resigned after more internal disagreements.
- Boris Johnson, Conservative — 2019-2022: Replaced May and managed to win a large majority in the 2019 general election, but was brought down by a series of scandals and more infighting.
- Liz Truss, Conservative — 2022: Was brought in to calm the waters after the turbulent Johnson years – but only made the situation worse by rattling the markets with completely unrealistic budget plans. Was forced to resign after only 50 days, becoming the shortest-serving UK prime minister ever. (Her premiership was famously outlasted by a lettuce.)
- Rishi Sunak, Conservative — 2022-2024: Replaced Truss to lead the party to the next election, which he lost, thus becoming the only one on this list to leave office because voters, rather than his own party, removed him.
- Keir Starmer, Labour — 2024-2026: Won big in the 2024 general election, promising stability after the chaos under the Conservatives. Less than two years into the mandate, he announced he will be stepping down.
Andy Burnham has announced he will stand in the Labour Party’s leadership contest, as one of his would-be opponents for the job quickly said in a letter following Keir Starmer’s resignation that he would back him.
Video Ad Feedback
Andy Burnham looks set to be next PM after a key potential challenger backs him instead
0:34 • Source: CNN
Andy Burnham looks set to be next PM after a key potential challenger backs him instead
0:34
Writing on social media, Burnham thanked Starmer for his leadership and said: “His decision marks the beginning of a transition and it is important that this process is conducted in an orderly and responsible way. I will put myself forward as part of this process.”
As the odds-on favorite – and with key potential challenger Wes Streeting, the former health secretary, ruling himself out of the race – the former Greater Manchester mayor and Makerfield MP is widely seen as the frontrunner to become the country’s next prime minister.
“Andy has shown what Labour can be when we are inclusive, united, and in touch with the lives of the people this Party was founded to represent,” Streeting wrote in a letter posted to X.
Pointing to a platform of economic growth, public service modernization, energy security, and democratic values, Streeting said of Burnham: “I’m convinced that there is a place for those ideas under his leadership.”
Keir Starmer has announced his resignation at a time when the British political landscape is fracturing as support for the two parties that dominated it for the last century is waning.
The center-left Labour and center-right Conservative parties have long been the main parties in British politics, though other smaller parties like the centrist Liberal Democrats have played significant roles too.
However, the combined Labour-Tory vote share has decreased significantly in recent years, as voters flock towards the populist left Green Party and the populist hard-right Reform in a sign of their dissatisfaction with the mainstream and the current political instability in Britain. National opinion polls now show a near-five way split with each party competing for roughly 20% of the electorate.
Britain operates under a first-past-the post system – meaning that the candidate with the most votes wins the seat no matter the distribution of votes. That system is more used to dealing with competition between two or three major parties, and has not been tested at a general election with five competitive parties.
As we’ve just reported, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer has announced he will resign.
Attention now turns to whether the Labour Party will hold a competitive leadership contest, or if it stages a political “coronation” of its preferred successor.
In his resignation speech, Starmer said that he will ask his party to set out a timetable for the leadership process, with nominations opening on July 9 until Parliament breaks for summer, a week later.
“In the case of a contest, this will ensure a new leader is in place before parliament returns in September,” Starmer said, adding that he will remain as the prime minister “until the contest is complete.”
All eyes are on Andy Burnham, whose recent victory in the Makerfield by-election has placed him in a position to seek the Labour leadership and potentially emerge as the party’s natural heir. However, no decision has been made and other senior Labour figures could still enter the race.
A prolonged leadership contest could risk instability for the government particularly if the party remains behind in the polls. Whether the transition becomes a genuine contest or de facto coronation will depend on how much support coalesces around Burnham.
Correction: This post has been updated to clarify when Parliament goes on summer recess
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer at first appeared to have struck up a productive relationship with US President Donald Trump following the latter’s re-election.
Starmer was once nicknamed the “Trump whisperer” on account of his apparent ability to keep the president on-side, and a meeting between the pair resulted in an “unprecedented” invitation to the US president from Britain’s King Charles III for for a second state visit.
Starmer and Trump last saw each other at last week’s G7 summit in France, and haven’t spoken to each other since, although Trump weighed in on his future yesterday.
It was at the beginning of the US and Israel’s war with Iran, when their relationship first started to fray, after Trump expressed his discontent with Starmer for not allowing the US to use British bases to launch attacks.
The US leader blasted the UK as “very, very uncooperative,” and said that “this is not Winston Churchill that we’re dealing with” in reference to Starmer.
For his part, Starmer has defended his decision not to join the war, saying he was not prepared to join a conflict “without a plan to get us out.”
In mid-March, Starmer said he had “stood by my principles” and believed that “time will show that we have the right approach.”
“Whether to commit British troops to military action is the most serious responsibility for any prime minister,” Starmer said. “I have been attacked by some for my decision not to join the offensive against Iran.”
Starmer was likely referring to Nigel Farage, the leader of the hard-right Reform UK party and an ally of Trump. Farage has today called for a general election in the UK, following Starmer’s resignation.
In April, Starmer said that his “position on the Iran war has been clear from the start. We’re not going to get dragged into this war.”
CNN’s Christian Edwards contributed to this reporting.
Trump ally Nigel Farage, who leads the hard-right party Reform UK, has “demanded an election” after Keir Starmer announced his resignation.
“If Labour thinks it can shove another professional politician into No 10, it has another thing coming,” Farage wrote in a social media post.
Under British law, the governing Labour Party does not have to hold a general election until 2029, five years after the last one. Governments can choose to hold one sooner if they so wish, though Labour has given no indication it intends to do that.
In recent British political history, it is not uncommon for prime ministers to come to power in between general election cycles, though sometimes they do choose to hold elections shortly after they assume the premiership.
Reform currently leads national opinion polls, even though it currently only has eight MPs in parliament, so it is in Farage’s interest to call for an election. Nonetheless, it remains unclear whether they can translate this lead into a viable election strategy that could be successful in the UK’s first-past-the-post system. In the recent Makerfield by-election, Andy Burnham resoundingly defeated Reform, albeit in very specific conditions.