Kier Starmer is resigning as UK PM

[muriel_volestrangler]

Press conference in front of 10 Downing St:

Starmer confirms he is resigning
Starmer confirms he is resign. He has spoken to the king, he says.

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/live/2026/jun/22/keir-starmer-resignation-timeable-andy-burnham-labour-leadership-prime-minister-latest-news-updates?CMP=share_btn_url&page=with%3Ablock-6a38f3bf8f088f86b42f8138#block-6a38f3bf8f088f86b42f8138

Starmer says he accepts 'with good grace' that he is not best person to lead Labour into next election
Starmer says he accepts the decision he has to go with good grace.

The question my party is asking now is whether I am best placed to lead us into the next general election.

I have heard the answer of my parliamentary party to that question, and I accept that answer with good grace.

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.

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/live/2026/jun/22/keir-starmer-resignation-timeable-andy-burnham-labour-leadership-prime-minister-latest-news-updates?CMP=share_btn_url&page=with%3Ablock-6a38f4108f08d76ddac5a1da#block-6a38f4108f08d76ddac5a1da

[muriel_volestrangler]

1. Starmer says new PM to take over mid July if Burnham unopposed, or by end of August if there's election

I will ask the national executive committee of the Labour party to set out a timetable, with nominations opening on the 9th of July and completed by the summer recess.

In the case of a contest, this will ensure a new leader is in place before parliament returns in September.

I will remain in post as prime minister until the contest is complete, and I will do everything I can to ensure an orderly handover of power.

The Commons summer recess is due to start on 16 July and so, if Andy Burnham is unopposed (as seems increasingly likely – despite Wes Streeting previously saying he would definitely stand as a candidate), he will become PM in the middle of next month.

If there is a contest, the new PM will be in post by the end of August. The Commons returns after the summer recess on 1 September.

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/live/2026/jun/22/keir-starmer-resignation-timeable-andy-burnham-labour-leadership-prime-minister-latest-news-updates?CMP=share_btn_url&page=with%3Ablock-6a38f45a8f088f86b42f813e#block-6a38f45a8f088f86b42f813e

[muriel_volestrangler]

2. Frozen by the challenges of power: how Starmer turned triumph into tragedy

A long piece the Guardian's senior political correspondent clearly had ready with his finger poised over "publish" - a good explainer on various things that went wrong, or didn't fit:

“Firstly, he never worked out what the job was – what does the prime minister do? Secondly, he never knew what he wanted to do, above all not on economic policy. And thirdly, he didn’t know who to appoint.
...
As a precis this might sound harsh. But it is difficult to counter the wider sense of a politician adept at winning the Labour leadership and then guiding the party to victory, before becoming frozen by the endless choices of power, hiding behind an ever-expanding lexicon of missions, goals and plans for change.
...
One staffer recounted asking why they had not yet seen a plan to govern, to be told that there did not appear to be one. “After the win we expected some sort of blitz of major policies. Instead, we just had the PM going round meeting mayors on a UK tour. There were a lot of people saying: ‘This can’t be it. This isn’t how you do politics.’”
...
Under the guidance of McSweeney, who moved from the controversial Labour Together thinktank to the helm of Starmer’s leadership campaign and then charged with planning for an election, the party was firmly shunted away from Corbyn’s leftwing populism, the 10 pledges largely forgotten.

As a way to reshape a party, it was undeniably effective. But the zeal with which McSweeney and his allies purged, demoted, sidelined or otherwise demeaned those on Labour’s left – “punching hippies” as the parlance has it – arguably left Starmer with a sometimes shallower authority.

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/ng-interactive/2026/jun/22/frozen-by-the-challenges-of-power-how-starmer-turned-triumph-into-tragedy

[malaise]

3. Good n/t

[2naSalit]

4. K&R

[muriel_volestrangler]

5. Wes Streeting backs Andy Burnham to become Labour leader and PM

Wes Streeting has said he will back Andy Burnham to become the next Labour leader, making it highly likely that Burnham, the former Greater Manchester mayor, will replace Keir Starmer as prime minister in July.

In a post on X, Burnham, who will be sworn in as an MP later on Monday after winning last week’s Makerfield byelection, said Starmer’s announcement on Monday that he would stand down as prime minister “marks the beginning of a transition and it is important that this process is conducted in an orderly and responsible way”, adding: “I will put myself forward as part of this process.”

Minutes later Streeting, the former health secretary who resigned from Starmer’s government last month, posted on X that he had been told Burnham hoped to build “an inclusive party”, and that he would not fight for the leadership.

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2026/jun/22/andy-burnham-to-stand-to-become-labour-leader-and-uk-prime-minister

I don't think Streeting had the 80 MPs to back his standing now, or would have stood a chance in the party election. So that should be Burnham installed as PM around mid-July. He's been sworn in as an MP (with a Life of Brian 'he's not the Messiah, he's a naughty boy' reference).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=961&v=-_WIPLcozOA

[SocialDemocrat61]

6. The UK is going through PMs quicker

than they go through Doctor Whos.