Keir Starmer quits as UK PM, Labour chief amid mounting party pressure

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Monday announced he will resign as both prime minister and leader of the Labour Party, after months of mounting pressure over his leadership and growing unrest within his party.

In a resignation statement, Starmer said he had inherited a Labour Party that was “politically, financially and morally bankrupt” and had been told repeatedly that it was “finished”.

But he said he had proved critics wrong by rebuilding the party, “ripping out the poison of anti-Semitism” and restoring trust on the economy, defence and national security.

He said Labour was now asking whether he remained the right person to lead it into the next general election.

“I have heard the answer of my party to that question, and I accept that answer with good grace,” Starmer said.

“Every decision I have taken has been about putting the country I love first. I will resign as leader of the Labour Party.”

His departure plunges British politics into fresh uncertainty and leaves the country facing its sixth leader in seven years.

His decision to appoint Peter Mandelson as the UK’s ambassador to the United States had also drawn criticism, with opponents pointing to Mandelson’s past association with the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

The pressure intensified after former Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham won a by-election to return to parliament, fuelling speculation that a succession battle inside Labour was moving into the open.