UK's Starmer Resigns, Paving Way for Orderly Transfer of Power

• Britain is to get its fifth prime minister in four years after the current incumbent of Downing Street, Keir Starmer, announced that he would resign.
• The move was widely expected and came after months of mounting pressure on Starmer, who led the Labour Party to a landslide victory in the 2024 UK general election but who has faced months of pressure to quit from members of parliament (MPs) for the centre-left party.
• Starmer had been hailed as a pragmatic and serious leader who could restore stability after years of political chaos and infighting that resulted in two changes of prime minister by the rightwing Conservative Party after the 2019 general election.
• But although he was elected with the biggest parliamentary majority in 100 years, there was a sense even among Labour supporters that Starmer lacked political nous and conviction. This was underlined by missteps including cutting some winter fuel subsidies for pensioners and a U-turn on welfare in the face of a parliamentary rebellion last year.
• That said, the announcement sets the scene for him to be replaced within weeks by Andy Burnham, who was a minister in the 2007-2010 government of Gordon Brown and, from 2017 until last week, the mayor of Greater Manchester. Burnham is seen by many in Labour as the party’s best hope of defeating the challenge posed by the populist-right Reform Party, led by Nigel Farage.
• The Labour government is the latest to fall foul of voter anger over politicians' failure ​to deliver on their promises of change, 10 years after the vote to leave the European Union. Starmer said he would ask the Labour Party's organising committee to set out a timeline for a leadership ​contest to find his replacement. Nominations would open on July 9, close by mid-July, and if there is a contest, a new leader will be in place by September. A coronation could mean a new leader would enter office by mid-July.
• After describing the achievements his government had secured in his two years of power, a man who was often criticised for being robotic became visibly emotional, his voice cracking when ​he thanked his family for their support.

(Sources: The Guardian and Reuters)