U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer announces resignation, sets out timetable for exit

U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer announces resignation, sets out timetable for exit

U.K. PM says he will resign as party leader: What happens next?

Burnham spoke a few words to reporters while breathlessly walking along the train platform at Euston station in London.

Burnham said he's "confident in the process" ahead of a Labour leadership contest and that he'll be putting himself forward. He gave brief praise to Starmer for his time in office, as well.

He was asked about a tweet he wrote in 2022 following Liz Truss's resignation as prime minister, calling for a general election. If Burnham wins the Labour leadership — it's unclear if there are other contenders with Wes Streeting already backing him — he will become yet another unelected British prime minister.

"My priority today is being sworn in as mayor — as MP for Makerfield," Burnham said with a little chuckle at his slip-up.

His byelection win ended his near decade-long mayorship of the city in North West England.

"It's been very, kind of, sad for me today to leave Greater Manchester. The people have been brilliant to me over the last few years. I've loved every minute of the role. I hope I leave Manchester in a better place. Thanks very much," Burnham said, walking briskly.

One of the previous residents of 10 Downing Street is already offering Burnham advice on what he should do.

Conservative Boris Johnson took over from Teresa May in the spring of 2019 and won a majority government just before Christmas that year. He lasted just over three years in the job.

Like Keir Starmer, his term was cut short by disgruntled MPs.

"The clock is ticking," he said, according to AFP. "Your honeymoon will not last long."

"You may be full of brilliant ideas for levelling up your country and you will have a wonderful agenda. But then, you know, some asteroid will hit you like Covid or something."

The takeaway, says Johnson: "Go fast."

There have been a lot of residents moving in and out of 10 Downing Street over the past decade.

Since 2015, in the waning days of David Cameron's premiership in the United Kingdom and the nascent days of Canada's Justin Trudeau era, there have been six British PMs, while we've only had two.

David Cameron's resignation in 2016 after the Brexit vote kick-started the recent leadership volatility in the U.K., as the country navigated Brexit, the pandemic and a cost-of-living crisis.

Starmer's resignation comes as Andy Burnham is set to be sworn in as MP today. According to Reuters, Burnham's just arrived in London. He took the train from Manchester Piccadilly station, where crowds of supporters greeted him.

Burnham is a former cabinet minister who, after running unsuccessfully for the Labour leadership in 2010 and 2015, spent nearly a decade as mayor of Greater Manchester.

He's now built his political brand around what he calls "Manchesterism." He says Britain is overly centralized, with power and economic-decision making in London. Instead, Burnham says he wants communities to have greater control over their own housing, transport, utilities and education.

He has described his approach as "business-friendly socialism" and pledged to stick to Labour's fiscal rules and maintain the party's promise not to raise taxes on working people.

Burnham believes years of privatization have left public services less efficient and more expensive. He's called for greater public control of utilities and has suggested some struggling firms, such as Thames Water, could warrant public ownership.

Burnham supports some recent efforts to reduce immigration but has said people already living in Britain should be allowed to work while their cases are being processed. He has also advocated reforming social care to ease pressure on the National Health Service.

Burnham has said he would like Britain to rejoin the European Union someday but is not proposing reopening the issue now, saying he respects the result of the 2016 vote.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer said on Monday he would resign, promising to ensure an orderly transfer of power to the next Labour leader. It's looking increasingly likely that will be former Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham.

After announcing Monday that he will step down, Starmer said a new Labour leader should be in place by the time Parliament returns in September.

Any candidate hoping to replace Starmer must first secure the backing of at least 20 per cent of Labour MPs. The party currently holds 403 seats in the House of Commons, so that equates to 81 lawmakers, including the challenger. Candidates also must hit thresholds for support from grassroots Labour Party organizations, and from affiliated organizations such as trade unions.

If more than one candidate qualifies, Labour members and affiliated supporters will vote to choose the party's next leader, who would automatically become prime minister.

Starmer said nominations will open July 9 and close before Parliament breaks for its summer recess on July 16. Any leadership contest is expected to conclude before MPs return on Sept. 1.

If only one candidate meets the nomination requirements, that person would be elected unopposed and immediately become both Labour leader and prime minister.

Starmer's personal failings alone don't explain the tumult that's seen six British prime ministers fall in 10 years, according to Colm Murphy, senior lecturer in British Politics at Queen Mary University of London.

Britain, like many advanced countries, took an economic hit with the 2008 global recession. But the Brexit decision to leave the European Union 10 years ago was a destabilizing force, he told CBC News Network.

"Since 2016, the U.K. has been really volatile," said Murphy, with many Britons bouncing between parties in the frequent elections.

While Starmer won a large majority two years ago, Murphy said many of those Labour MPs won their individual races quite narrowly, and their constituents soon gave them an earful due to economic woes and divisive issues like immigration.

The fractured time in British politics means the next general election — whenever that may be — could result in a coalition government, Murphy said. He noted that Farage's Reform UK which currently lead the polls "have a ceiling," and could be susceptible to strategic voting in some ridings.

"No party commands significant support from the country."

There were just over 5,000 local council seats up for grabs in England on May 7.

When the votes were counted, Labour had lost almost 1,500 of them, while the anti-immigration party Reform UK gained more than 1,400. The Conservatives also did poorly, while the Green Party made major gains in urban centres and university towns.

Labour support also collapsed in same-day elections for the devolved parliaments in its former strongholds of Scotland and Wales. The Welsh result was particularly bad for the party, which ceded its dominance in the country for the first time in around a century and saw the Labour first minister lose her seat.

The results were seen as an unofficial referendum on Starmer, who was elected less than two years ago and has been criticized as an uninspiring, ineffective leader.

Even before the Mandelson crisis, Labour had been struggling to ease the cost of living and jump-start a sluggish economy against the tough economic backdrop of war in Ukraine and, more recently, Iran, since ending 14 years of Conservative rule.

– With files from The Associated Press

​​Starmer entered Parliament in 2015, winning the Holborn and St. Pancras seat in London while the Labour Party, then in opposition, was under the leadership of Jeremy Corbyn.

Starmer was viewed as part of Labour's more moderate wing. He ran for leadership after the party suffered a historic defeat in the 2019 general election, promising unity and professionalism.

He won in 2020 and spent the following years moving Labour toward the political centre, focusing on restoring the party's economic credibility and distancing it from the internal scandals and antisemitism controversies that happened under Corbyn.

Starmer benefited from years of instability within the governing Conservative Party, which cycled through two further prime ministers following Boris Johnson's resignation in 2022.

Labour won the 2024 general election, with Starmer portraying himself as a pragmatist focused on reducing economic uncertainty and restoring trust in government.

However, he faced growing calls to resign this spring after revelations that the U.K. Foreign Office overrode a failed security vetting process to appoint Peter Mandelson as ambassador to the United States, despite the former Labour cabinet minister's ties to late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Starmer says he was never informed Mandelson had failed vetting and called the situation "completely unacceptable." But the scandal triggered several resignations, including the departure of the Foreign Office's top civil servant.

We've now heard from Andy Burnham, who appears set to become Britain's next prime minister.

"Keir has given huge service to our country and I want to thank him for his leadership and dedication during such a challenging period," Burnham wrote on social media.

"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."

Burnham has deep support within Labour's parliamentary caucus and it is uncertain if anyone else will challenge him for the job, which could make any potential leadership contest more of a coronation.

There is no timetable for when Burnham could potentially take over, but in his resignation statement earlier this morning Starmer has indicated he will stay on as prime minister over the summer.