UK’s Starmer set to announce timeline for resignation on Monday — report

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is expected to announce a timeline for his resignation on Monday, paving the way for Labour Party rival Andy Burnham to succeed him, the Guardian reported.

Starmer has publicly vowed to stay in the post, but he is unpopular, and pressure is building as more and more Labour Party colleagues conclude his time is up. The Guardian reported that more than half a dozen cabinet members have urged him to step down and that he has already begun working on a resignation speech.

Monday is the day Burnham will be sworn in as a lawmaker in the House of Commons after winning a special election last week. According to the Guardian, Starmer will likely announce that he will resign in the fall, creating space for an orderly transition and giving Burnham time to prepare.

Burnham, the former popular mayor of Greater Manchester, is widely anticipated to be the next leader of the Labour Party, and consequently the next prime minister, but others in the party may challenge him for the top spot. The party’s next leader will be the UK’s seventh prime minister in a decade.

On Sunday, Business Secretary Peter Kyle had said that Starmer is “making time to reflect on the political realities, challenges and opportunities that he finds himself in.”

“I know he is a prime minister who always puts his country first,” Kyle told the BBC, adding that reports that Starmer would resign are “speculation.”

Starmer spent the weekend at Chequers, the country mansion used by British prime ministers, with his family. He gave no public hint about his decision, but sent a Father’s Day message on social media.

“Being a dad is my greatest joy. Today, I’m thinking about my dad, and the father I am to my children because of him,” he wrote on X.

Discontent with the prime minister has been building for months, with Labour lawmakers desperate to reverse the government’s decline in popularity since Starmer led the center-left party to a landslide election victory in July 2024.

He has struggled to deliver promised economic growth, repair tattered public services and ease the cost of living, and has been hamstrung by repeated missteps, including his decision to appoint Peter Mandelson, a scandal-tarnished friend of Jeffrey Epstein, as the UK ambassador to the United States.

Labour is losing liberal voters to the growing Green Party and facing a rising Reform UK, the Nigel Farage -led anti-immigration party that consistently leads in nationwide opinion polls.

Burnham decisively won the seat of Makerfield in northwestern England in a special election held Thursday. He took almost 55% of the 45,510 votes cast, over 9,000 more than the Reform UK runner-up.

Now that he is a lawmaker, he’s in a position to challenge Starmer for leadership of the Labour Party. Burnham’s acceptance speech left no doubt that he wants to lead both the party and the country.

“Everyone knows that politics isn’t working,” he said. “Everyone can feel that the country isn’t where it should be. Tonight could, just could, be the turning point.”

It’s unclear whether Burnham would face a coronation or a challenge if Starmer steps aside. Wes Streeting, who resigned as health secretary last month to protest Starmer’s leadership, has said he will run in a contest if there is one.

Starmer congratulated Burnham on Friday, but insisted at the time that he would fight any attempt to oust him.

“I will run, I will stand,” if there is a Labour leadership contest, Starmer said. “I’ve said repeatedly I’m not going to walk away from that.”

But Charlie Falconer, a senior Labour member of the House of Lords, said Saturday that Starmer has “absolutely no authority” left.

“There should be an agreed transition process in which Andy and Keir cooperate as to when the handover should take place,” he told the BBC.