Liberal politician Keir Starmer announced his resignation on Monday — just hours after President Donald Trump let the cat out of the bag and faulted the British prime minister for failing “badly on two very important subjects — IMMIGRATION AND ENERGY.”
Critics celebrated his downfall, fellow travelers romanticized his time in office, and Starmer’s putative replacement, Andy Burnham, called for an “orderly and responsible” transition.
‘I couldn’t have predicted how quickly he would reveal himself as the most incompetent Prime Minister this country has ever had.’
Starmer, a deeply unpopular leader whose job disapproval rating has hovered around 76%, characterized his nearly two years in office as a success, stating, “We changed our party, ripping out the poison of anti-Semitism, restoring trust on the economy, defense, and national security, and becoming a party that once again stood proudly with, not against, our national flag.”
After suggesting that he had taken steps to “change Britain for the better” — “to build a fairer country with dignity and respect, where everyone is seen, everyone is valued” — and reiterating London’s support for Ukraine, Starmer noted that his party has made clear he is not the individual “best placed to lead us into the next general election.”
“I accept that answer with good grace,” said Starmer, the U.K.’s sixth prime minister since July 2016. “Every decision I’ve taken has been about putting the country I love first. That is why I will resign as leader of the Labour Party. I have spoken to His Majesty the King this morning to inform him of my decision. I will ask the National Executive Committee of the Labour Party to set out a timetable with nominations opening on the 9th of July.”
A Labour leadership election would ensure that Starmer is replaced before the British Parliament returns in September. Starmer said he would remain in office until he is replaced.
Labor politician Andy Burnham. Gary Roberts/SOPA Images/LightRocket/Getty Images.
The Labour Party has been roiled in recent months by a civil war.
Ninety-six of Starmer’s 402 Labour members of parliament demanded the prime minister’s resignation last month after the party suffered significant losses — a net-loss of 1,229 seats out of a total of roughly 5,000 — in local elections, while Reform UK saw tremendous gains.
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood reportedly urged Starmer in early May to establish a timetable for his departure.
The infighting did not go unnoticed by opponents in parliament.
Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch, for instance, stated late last year that “the PM has shown he is in office but not in power.”
‘Digital ID was to be foisted upon people regardless of their wishes.’
Starmer’s ultimate decision to throw in the towel — just days after he and his party were blasted in the 219-page “Rape Gang Inquiry Report” — was welcomed by Restore Britain leader Rupert Lowe, who stated, “He has been a truly disgraceful Prime Minister. I do not believe him to be a good man or a patriot. He has deliberately and rapidly accelerated the destruction of our Britain, of our home. History will not remember him kindly, nor should it.”
“I sat in Parliament, looking him in the eye, listening to him attempting to justify his decision to block a national inquiry into the mass rape of young British girls,” continued Lowe. “I will never forgive him. For that, and so much else.”
Labour politicians voted against a national inquiry into grooming gangs in January 2025. Starmer’s spokesman stated at the time, “We will be guided by the victims and what we’ve heard from the victims is that they don’t want to see another national inquiry.”
Isabel Infantes/POOL/AFP/Getty Images
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage wrote, “The Prime Minister is finished. I have to give Starmer some credit: even I couldn’t have predicted how quickly he would reveal himself as the most incompetent Prime Minister this country has ever had the misfortune of having.”
Farage, who has demanded a prompt general election “at the soonest possible date,” countered Starmer’s success narrative with a list of some of the Labour government’s apparent misdeeds over the past two years:
The party started by trying to steal from pensioners, while simultaneously refusing to take action against welfare cheats. Rachel Reeves raided your pay packet to throw money towards public sector fat cats. Promises to “smash the gangs” were hollow, as illegal migration through the Channel hit record highs. Digital ID was to be foisted upon people regardless of their wishes. Hardened criminals were released from prisons back onto your streets. The Chagos Islands were nearly handed over at a cost to the taxpayer, and farmers were hit by a death tax.
The Free Speech Union also welcomed Starmer’s exit, noting, “He has led the most authoritarian government in more than a generation, unleashing an unprecedented assault on free speech. Indeed, he seems determined to make social media censorship his legacy.”
The FSU, like Farage, pointed out, however, that the Labour Party’s likely replacement may be just as bad as, if not worse than, Starmer.
Starmer’s most likely successor is Andy Burnham, the Greater Manchester mayor who handily won a special election on Thursday, thereby securing a seat in parliament and a viable pathway to the head of the Labour Party.
A radical leftist who welcomes mass migration, Burnham is also an Islamophile who:
opposed the U.K.’s counter-extremism program as “toxic” for supposedly discriminating against Muslims, whom he said feel “unfairly targeted”;rushed to downplay the religious nature of the May 2017 Islamic terror attack at the Manchester Arena that left 22 people dead and 1,017 injured, noting that “the person who did it in no more represents the Muslim community than the person who killed Jo Cox represents the white Christian community”; andsupported the adoption of a definition of “Islamophobia” that claims it is “rooted in racism.”
Other candidates are, according to conservative politician David Frost, variations on a theme:
All the likely candidates, just like Starmer, are creatures of the same political class. All have devoted their lives to Labour politics and none appears to have any meaningful non-political hinterland or wider interests beyond pop music and football. They all support Burnham-style state‑led regionalism, they all see the state as capable of resolving all society’s ills, and they are all in their different ways steeped in corporatism and the trade unions. All are pro-EU and want to reverse Brexit. And of course all are hostile to “populism.”
Burnham thanked Starmer on Monday for his “leadership and dedication during such a challenging period” and emphasized the need for the transition process to be “conducted in an orderly and responsible way.”
“People want to see progress on economic growth, cost of living, public services, housing and opportunities for the next generation,” wrote Burnham. “Political change should never distract from the responsibility to improve people’s lives.”
Liberals at home and abroad did their apparent best to paint Starmer’s short stint in office in rosy colors.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, for instance, said Starmer “can be proud of the contribution he has made to the country he loves.”
Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, claimed that “it can take many leaders years to grow into the statesman [Starmer] became in just two years,” adding that Starmer had helped make European and Ukrainian security stronger.
London Mayor Sadiq Khan claimed that Starmer “is a man of great integrity” who has “made a huge contribution to the Labour party and our country.”
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Andy burnham, Britain, Donald trump, Immigration, Keir starmer, Leftism, London, Nigel farage, Rape gang, Uk, Politics, Labour party
