Six Prime Ministers in 10 Years: UK’s Latest PM Resignation

Keir Starmer announced his resignation as UK Prime Minister and Labour leader, just two years after winning the biggest parliamentary majority for his party this century. A landslide victory made him the sixth British prime minister in just under a decade.

Starmer will remain in office until his successor is chosen, which he says will happen before Parliament returns in September.

Starmer’s departure follows months of mounting pressure inside his own Labour Party. He leaves office as the least popular prime minister on record, CNN reported. According to the BBC, the final blow came after disastrous local election results in May, the resignation of several ministers, and renewed controversy surrounding his appointment of Jeffrey Epstein-linked politician Peter Mandelson as UK ambassador to Washington.

Starmer’s resignation opens the door for Andy Burnham, the former Greater Manchester mayor, who is widely viewed as the favourite to replace him. Burnham was sworn in as MP for Makerfield on Monday after winning a key by-election last week.

The resignation continues a decade of instability at the top of British politics. The UK has now seen David Cameron (2016), Theresa May (2019), Boris Johnson (2022), Liz Truss (2022), Rishi Sunak (2024), and now Starmer all leave Downing Street within a single decade, each brought down by a different crisis.