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LONDON — Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced on Monday he would resign as the leader of his party and as prime minister, setting the stage for the United Kingdom’s seventh prime minister within a decade.
“The question my party is asking now is whether I am best placed to lead us into the next general election,” he said. “I have heard the answer of my parliamentary party to that question, and I accept that answer with good grace.”
Starmer, who had lead the Labour Party since 2020, was elected in 2024. A formal challenge to Starmer’s premiership had not yet begun as of Monday, but members of his party have in recent weeks pointed to Andy Burnham, the former mayor of Greater Manchester, as his potential successor.
A TV camera points at the door of 10 Downing Street in London, Monday, June 22, 2026 as expectations are growing that Britain’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer will announce his resignation soon.
Thomas Krych/AP Photo
Burnham, who won a special election on Friday to become a member of parliament representing Makerfield, was expected to be sworn in in the House of Commons on Monday.
New Labour Party MP for Makerfield, Andy Burnham speaks to supporters and members of the media, the morning after his by-election victory, at Ashton Town FC, in Ashton in Makerfield, north-west England on June 19, 2026.
Darren Staples/AFP via Getty Images
Many in Starmer’s Labour party had written to Starmer asking him to step down following local elections in May, during which saw the party lost more than 1,000 seats on local councils, results that were widely interpreted as a repudiation of Labour’s performance to date by British voters.
Members of staff bring the lectern outside 10 Downing Street on the morning of June 22, 2026, in London as Britain’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer prepares to make a statement on his future.
Henry Nicholls/AFP via Getty Images
Starmer long said he intended to see out his full five-year term, which began with his party’s 2024 landslide election victory that ended 14 years of Conservative Party government and delivered Labour a historic majority in the House of Commons.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
ABC News’ David Brennan contributed to this report.
