Keir Starmer’s voice broke as he told the country he was leaving. On Monday, June 22, the prime minister announced his resignation as both head of government and Labour leader, ending a tenure that opened with a landslide win in July 2024.
He will stay on as caretaker until Labour elects a successor in the coming weeks, and said he would give that person his full support. He had already spoken with King Charles, he said, and promised an orderly handover. A new leader is expected before parliament returns in September.
Starmer was visibly emotional. Closing his address, he said the role he now wanted to put first was being “the best husband” to his wife Victoria and “the best father” to his children.
Months of pressure
Republic World reported that the decision followed months of falling public support for Starmer and for Labour. Pressure grew after Andy Burnham won a parliamentary election decisively and came back to Westminster as a possible challenger. His rise reportedly sped up calls inside the party for a change at the top. Whoever wins will be Britain’s seventh prime minister in just over a decade.
Reaction from Northern Ireland
The BBC gathered responses from Northern Ireland’s party leaders, and they split along familiar lines.
First Minister Michelle O’Neill of Sinn Fein said the departure “really underlines for all of us the chaos of Westminster” since the EU referendum a decade ago. “Tomorrow will be the 10-year anniversary since Brexit and what we saw throughout the course of that time has been a revolving door of British prime ministers,” she said. A change of leader “yet again” showed that “our interests are never the top of the agenda in Westminster”, and she called for a serious conversation about constitutional change.
Democratic Unionist leader Gavin Robinson acknowledged Starmer’s service but said Labour “do not have a recipe for success in our country”. He urged the successor to “work for the strivers”. Asked about Burnham, Robinson said many people were wondering what he really stands for. Burnham’s backers say he stands for hope, Robinson said, but “hope’s a wonderful thing” and “doesn’t put bread on the table”.
Naomi Long of the Alliance Party thanked Starmer for a “life of public service” in politics and the legal system. She worried about “another period of instability I think we could well do without” and wanted the question settled quickly.
Ulster Unionist leader Jon Burrows was blunter. The news was “not a shock to anybody”, he said. “He might have had an overwhelming majority but his performance was dismal as opposed to just underwhelming.” He said Starmer had consistently taken the wrong side on issues from the legacy of the Troubles to taxation.
SDLP leader Claire Hanna gave a mixed verdict. Starmer had been more engaged and respectful toward the island of Ireland than anyone in the previous decade, she said, but had failed to “communicate and connect with his electorate”.
Sources
- Sir Keir Starmer: Departure 'underscores chaos of Westminster' says Michelle O'Neill
- Less Than Two Years in Office, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer Announces Resignation Amid Mounting Pressure
