Sir Keir Starmer announced his resignation as both Prime Minister and leader of the Labour Party on June 22, 2026, ending months of escalating internal rebellion that he ultimately could not survive. He delivered the news outside 10 Downing Street after informing King Charles III of his decision.
Starmer will remain in office until a successor is chosen, with the Labour leadership election expected to wrap up before Parliament returns in September 2026. When that new leader takes over, Britain will have cycled through seven prime ministers in roughly a decade.
The revolt that ended a premiership
The final blow came from an unlikely direction: a by-election in Makerfield. Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham won the seat with 54.8% of the vote, a result that energized the party’s internal opposition and made Starmer’s position nearly impossible to defend.
In the aftermath of Burnham’s victory, somewhere between 80 and 90 Labour MPs publicly called for Starmer to either resign or at least lay out a timetable for his departure.
