Keir Starmer resigned as Prime Minister in June 2026, brought down by a wave of public fury and a fractured Labour Party. His premiership, which began with a landslide victory in 2024, ended after just two years, making him the sixth PM to leave office in a decade.
A Landslide Victory Turned Sour
Starmer swept to power on a wave of optimism, ending 14 years of Conservative rule with a near-record Commons majority. However, the broad coalition that secured his victory proved fragile. Labour's election strategy of being everything to everyone left Starmer struggling to hold the coalition together in government, often pleasing no one.
Despite early achievements—including generational reforms to renters' and workers' rights, cutting NHS waiting lists, and scrapping the two-child benefit cap to lift half a million children out of poverty—public hostility grew. According to political editor Lizzy Buchan, "deep public hostility towards him is out of step with what he has achieved."
Key Achievements and Failures
Starmer's government delivered significant reforms: free breakfast clubs in primary schools, extension of free school meals to half a million children, 1,000 Best Start Hubs for families, and 30 hours of free childcare. Net migration nearly halved, asylum claims and small boat arrivals dropped, and renationalisation of railways began. On the world stage, he built a relationship with Donald Trump while defending Ukraine and repairing ties with Europe.
However, early missteps proved fatal. Within weeks, the government stripped winter fuel allowance from millions of pensioners, aiming to show fiscal toughness but instead appearing uncaring. A gloomy speech in the Downing Street garden warning of a painful budget drained optimism. Scandals over ministerial freebies and the botched appointment of Peter Mandelson as US ambassador—later sacked due to Epstein ties—further eroded trust.
The Unravelling
Starmer's grip on his party loosened after U-turns on welfare reforms, inheritance tax for farmers, and business rates for pubs. The local elections saw Labour hammered in English heartlands, ousted from power in Wales for the first time in over a century, and pushed to third in Scotland. In Gorton and Denton, Labour lost to the Greens after party chiefs blocked Andy Burnham from standing.
Buchan, who interviewed Starmer multiple times, noted that by May 2026, he seemed "shell-shocked" by the scale of losses, struggling to articulate a turnaround. "Behind the scenes, Starmer could be insightful, funny and kind," she wrote, but his public persona failed to connect.
A System That Chews Up PMs
Starmer's resignation raises questions about governability. Since the Brexit referendum, six PMs have left office: David Cameron (Brexit), Theresa May (MPs), Boris Johnson (parties), Liz Truss (economy), Rishi Sunak (election loss), and now Starmer. Buchan noted, "Watching another Prime Minister chewed up and spat out by the system raises questions about how this country is becoming hard to govern."
Starmer had diagnosed that fixing Britain's problems required a 10-year project, but he couldn't deliver the remedy. As Andy Burnham launches a leadership bid, he will need every ounce of political skill to succeed where Starmer failed.
