Keir Starmer to leave post as PM and Labour leader

Sir Keir Starmer announced that he will step down as Prime Minister in September.

The Prime Minister took soundings from his cabinet and spoke to close friends and aides over the weekend and concluded that he should step down. This follows weeks of public speculation – with over 100 Labour MPs calling for him to go – following the disastrous local and devolved elections.

In the traditional Downing Street speech, Starmer said that the party was asking whether he was best placed to lead the party into the next general election, said he had heard the answer from MPs and that “I accept that answer with good grace”.

Starmer will resign as leader by the time Parliament returns from summer recess in September, with a leadership election set to take place from July 9.

The Prime Minister’s voice broke when he spoke of renewing his focus on his important job – as a husband and a father.

It comes as Andy Burnham returns to Parliament for the first time since being elected as the new MP for Makerfield in last week’s by-election.

Starmer’s resignation will see him become Labour’s shortest serving Prime Minister, having served roughly two years in office.

LabourList Editor Emma Burnell said: “Starmer was a decent man who has done the decent thing. In recent weeks it became increasingly clear that his position was untenable. The chaos the PM was trying so hard to avoid was actually becoming worse as a result of that avoidance and in leaving now he has given the Party the clean break it needs to build on his legacy with three more years in government.

“The Party owes Starmer a huge debt of gratitude. When he was elected leader in 2020 no one thought that Labour would be able to win a landslide majority just four years later. The work he did to ensure that should not be forgotten.

“Equally, much of the work that has been done in government over the last two years are things Labour members are very proud to have delivered. From ending the 2-child cap to historical new laws promoting the rights of workers and renters lives have been improved by Labour under Starmer.

“Long after the drama surrounding his last few weeks has faded from memory, those key pieces of legislation will stand as a testament to what it means to have Labour in office. Something we have Starmer to thank for.”

We will bring you all the reactions as we have them.

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