Keir Starmer resignation: UK Prime Minister delivers resignation speech at No.10

Keir Starmer has resigned as leader of the UK Labour Party, setting up Andy Burnham to likely become the country’s seventh leader in 10 years.

Accompanied by wife Victoria, Sir Keir told media gathered at No.10 Downing Street in a prepared statement that he has addressed the King and will remain as UK PM until the leadership contest is complete and promised a full and orderly handover of power before parliament returns in September.

That will likely see Mr Burnham, following his election last week into the safe Labour seat of Makerfield, emerge as the sole challenger despite previous rumblings from Wes Streeting, who recently resigned as UK Health Minister, citing a lack of confidence in Sir Keir.

However, Mr Streeting issued a letter an hour after Sir Keir’s resignation speech backing Mr Burnham as the next leader.

“I will also give my successor my full and unequivocal support to the next leader,” Sir Keir has told waiting journalists as Reform Party supporters played Beethoven’s Ode to Joy in the background.

Sir Keir began his brief speech with a summation of his rise to power and what he described as his list of Labour Government achievements.

“Walking up this street two years ago was the proudest moment of my life,” he told awaiting media.

“Six years ago I inherited a Labour party that was politically, spiritually and financially bankrupt.

He says since then they ripped out UK Labour’s “poison of anti-Semitism”, before taking power and restoring trust in the economy and national security, having “changed Britain for the better”.

“Where everyone is seen, everyone is valued. We created a different Britain with wealth and benefit for all, not just the privileged few,” Sir Keir said.

“Look at what we’ve achieved in just two years.

“An economy that is stronger, wages rising above inflation every month ... an end to austerity, the fastest fall in NHS waiting lists in 17 years ... the biggest uplift in defence spending since the Cold War. Small boat crossings, falling.

“Half a million children lifted out of poverty due to the choices I made.

“Standing with Ukraine, standing up for our values and rebuilding our relationship with our allies in Europe.

“Change promised by a Labour government, change fought for by a Labour government but change delivered by a Labour government.”

However, he said he had listened to the question from many within his party about whether he was still positioned and supported in his mission to lead the party into the next UK general election. Then he said he was ready to accept their answer, and announced his decision to step down.

“I have heard the answer from my Parliamentary party and I accept that answer with good grace,” he said.

He says he will now dedicate his life to his other special job - being the best husband he can be to his wife Victoria and best father he can be to their teenage children.

It comes as likely successor Mr Burnham is preparing to farewell staffers in his Mayoral office at Greater Manchester, the office he left to become the MP for Makefield and the likely new UK prime minister.

Sir Keir will likely remain as Prime Minister until the leadership contest set for mid-September but pledged an “orderly” transition of power to that new leader, adding that he believed he was handing them a Great Britain in vastly better shape than what it was two years ago.

“I will also give my successor my full and unequivocal support,” he said.

Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy said his resignation “showed the character of the man putting the country first”.

“It is the depth of his character and his determination and his resilience ... that makes me proud to serve alongside him,” Mr Lammy told BBC Radio.

“Today we reflect on his legacy and what he has done for the country ... I think it’s immense.

“Tomorrow is another day.”

Skills Minister Jacqui Smith told Times Radio early on Monday she ‌would have liked Sir Keir to stay on but he had been weighing what was best for the country, due to the “pressure that is being brought upon him”.

The threat to Sir Keir, which had been building for months, increased sharply on Friday when Mr Burnham, the Greater Manchester mayor, decisively won a parliamentary election to return to Westminster, beating a candidate from Nigel Farage’s Reform UK party, which has led national opinion polls for more than a year.

That victory gave hope to Labour MPs that Mr Burnham, a career politician known for his communication skills, could transform the fortunes of a party that ‌has lost support under Sir Keir, ‌whose popularity ratings had sunk ⁠to the lowest for any British leader.

But the widely expected change of leader is not without risk.

Beyond saying that the country needs fundamental change and to bring down the cost of living, Mr Burnham has yet to make clear his approach to foreign affairs, the economy and defence.

Like Sir Keir, he could find he has little room to manoeuvre, hemmed in by bond market investors opposed to any additional borrowing, and confronted by an angry electorate who believe the country is not working properly.

Britain already has the highest borrowing costs in the Group of Seven wealthy nations due to its high debt and interest payments, years of anaemic economic growth, its struggles to cut spending and the need to invest in areas such as defence.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has posted a condolence message, saying he considers the UK Prime Minister “a friend and I’m thinking of him on what must be a very tough day”.

“Serving in public life is a tremendous privilege but politics can also be a harsh business,” he posted online.

“When the time comes for Keir to leave Downing Street, he 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.

“I’m grateful for the opportunities we had to work together to strengthen our AUKUS defence and security partnership, support the brave people of Ukraine and keep children safe from the damage that social media can do.

“I wish Keir, Victoria and their children well with everything the future holds.”

with AP