“Six prime ministers in seven years should convince you” that Britain is broken, Nigel Farage told viewers on Monday, within hours of Keir Starmer announcing he would resign as Labour leader. The Reform UK leader wanted one thing from it: a general election, immediately.
Starmer’s reason was a loss of confidence among many Labour lawmakers. He plans to stay on as caretaker prime minister until the party picks a successor. He told reporters he had informed the King and would ask Labour’s National Executive Committee to start the leadership contest, and that he accepted the party’s verdict “with good grace.” The exit comes less than two years after Labour’s landslide in the July 2024 general election.
Farage’s case
In a video posted shortly after the announcement, Farage said the public had “simply had enough of political parties chopping and changing their leaders.” Voters who elect a prime minister, he argued, expect that person to serve a full term. What was happening now, he said, was “reminiscent of a banana republic that has totally devalued the very process of general elections and democracy.”
A longer Substack essay followed the same day. In it Farage claimed credit for Starmer’s fall and called him “the most incompetent Prime Minister this country has ever had the misfortune of having.” He pointed to Reform’s record at the ballot box to back his demand: millions had voted for Reform councillors, he wrote, and the party has led “in more than 300 opinion polls for well over a year.”
His sharpest lines were aimed at Andy Burnham, the former Greater Manchester mayor and the favorite to take over. “Westminster wants to crown Andy Burnham off the back of a single by-election,” Farage wrote, adding that to men like Burnham “democracy is only a means to an end.” The country, he said, was about to get its sixth prime minister in seven years. “This is farcical, reminiscent of post-war Italy.”
The mechanics
The catch for Farage is that nothing in the rules forces a vote. A governing party that keeps its Commons majority can swap its leader, and the prime minister with him, without calling an election. The next national vote is not required until 2029, although opposition parties are pressing Labour to seek a fresh mandate.
Burnham confirmed on Monday that he will seek the Labour leadership. Former Health Secretary Wes Streeting said he would back Burnham instead of running. According to City AM, nominations open on 9 July, and if Burnham is the only candidate he becomes party leader and prime minister. Starmer’s statement put a new leader in place before Parliament returns in September.
Other parties lined up quickly. Tory leader Kemi Badenoch had called Starmer a “terrible Prime Minister” shortly before he spoke. The Green Party’s Zack Polanski urged a “bold change of direction,” and Liberal Democrat Sir Ed Davey said the public was “sick of being let down by an endless merry-go-round of Prime Ministers.” Labour figures including Ed Miliband, Lord Hermer, Steve Reed and Darren Jones praised the “dignity” Starmer showed in resigning.
US President Donald Trump weighed in on Sunday, writing that Starmer “failed badly” on immigration and energy and adding, “I wish him well!”
Sources
- Nigel Farage Demands Snap Election, Calls U.K. 'Banana Republic'
- Farage demands immediate election after Starmer's resignation – Wake Up Singapore
- Nigel Farage calls for General Election after Starmer replacement
