Keir Starmer resignation speech live: Prime Minister in tears as he pays tribute to wife after standing down from No 10

Buckingham Palace said the King spoke by phone to Sir Keir Starmer at his residence at Highgrove in Gloucestershire early this morning.

Starmer has asked Labour’s National Executive Committee to set a timetable for leadership nominations to open on July 9 and be completed by the summer holidays.

This will mean that a new leader will be in office before parliament meets in September.

Nigel Farage has called for an urgent general election, arguing that people should be given the chance to decide who will govern the country following the resignation of Sir Keir Starmer.

In a post on his Substack page, Mr Farage wrote:

Starmer is not the first Prime Minister I have sacked and he won’t be the last. David Cameron. Theresa May. Rishi Sunak. And next up is Andy Burnham. The reason every leader fails is the same.

What the political class fails to understand is that voters will not accept being made fools of. They cannot continue to take the votes of the people who support them for granted, only to betray them once they come to power. Politics is a matter of trust.

Therefore, I call for a general election to be held as soon as possible. You know as well as I do that the country cannot afford to waste another week drifting from crisis to crisis. That’s why millions of you turned out in local elections to vote for Reform councilors and that’s why we’ve been ahead in more than 300 opinion polls for over a year.

Sir Keir Starmer looked emotional as he thanked his wife Victoria for her support at the end of his speech.

They both stood outside number 10 before heading inside, to loud applause and chants for Sir Keir’s team, who also gathered outside.

The loud music from outside the gates of Downing Street, which stopped for a moment, started again.

Sir Keir Starmer will spend more time being the “best husband” and “best father” after his resignation.

Speaking from Downing Street, he said:

I want to thank the amazing No 10 staff who dedicate their lives to public service and our country’s extraordinary Civil Service.

And when I leave the biggest job in the country, I will spend more time on the job that matters most; To be the best husband I can to my wonderful wife Vic, who has been there for me through good times and bad, and to be the best father I can to my beautiful children who are my pride and joy.

Sir Keir Starmer used his resignation speech outside Downing Street to reflect on the state of Labor when he first took office, saying he was taking over a party that was “politically, financially and morally bankrupt”.

The outgoing Prime Minister said critics had repeatedly warned him that the party was beyond saving and recalled that he had been told “over and over” that Labor was “over”.

But he stressed that he “proved these people wrong.”

Starmer noted a number of reforms during his leadership, including what he described as “rooting out the poison of anti-Semitism” from the party.

He also claimed to be rebuilding Labour’s credibility by “restoring confidence in the economy, defense and national security”.

Sir Keir Starmer has asked Labour’s executive committee to set a timetable to replace him, starting on July 9 and ending by the summer holidays; thus it would be possible “to ensure that a new leader is in office before Parliament returns in September”.

Sir Keir Starmer said:

Walking down this street two years ago was the proudest moment of my life; A new Labor Government, the first in 14 years, was a page opened in our country’s history after years of disappointment and despair.

A chance to change the lives of millions of people for the better. This is why I entered politics.

Sir Keir Starmer said he would resign as leader of the Labor Party and informed the King of his decision.

Sir Keir Starmer is set to resign from the same bench as Rishi Sunak.

The Prime Minister is expected to appear in Downing Street within the next few minutes.