Keir Starmer expected to announce resignation timetable, paving way for Burnham premiership – UK politics live | Politics
Keir Starmer expected to announce release schedule
Good morning. Tomorrow is the 10th anniversary of the referendum to leave the EU, which means Wednesday is the 10th anniversary of David Cameron announcing his resignation as Prime Minister. After Cameron was sacked as a result of his own referendum, three more Conservative Prime Ministers were sacked by their own MPs (Theresa May, Boris Johnson and Liz Truss) and another by voters (Rishi Sunak). Keir Starmer has been Prime Minister for less than two years, but he is about to become the sixth Prime Minister to be sacked in a decade and will almost certainly be replaced by Andy Burnham.
In the past, the British used to joke that Italy was a country with constantly changing prime ministers. These days Italy seems a beacon of stability and Britain has become a place never too far from another round of political upheaval.
Starmer spent the weekend at Checkers thinking about his future. He is now back in London and – although No 10 has not confirmed this – journalists are likely to be on standby for an announcement this morning.
Here’s our story in one night Peter Walker And Pippa Crerar.
While Starmer’s resignation seems inevitable, we don’t know whether it will be a leadership election or (more likely) an uncontested transfer of power to Burnham. We don’t know whether Starmer will offer to stay until September or whether the handover will be accelerated. We will learn more as the day goes on.
The critical incident is not in the log because it has not been confirmed, but these are the timings we have.
11.30: A lobby briefing is expected to be held in Downing Street.
14.30: Andy Burnham will take his seat in the House of Commons as the new MP for Makerfield.
After 15.30: Keir Starmer is expected to make a Commons statement regarding the G7 summit last week.
If you would like to contact me, please send a message below the line or send a message on social media during comments open hours (between 10:00 – 15:00). I can’t read all messages BTL, but if you type “Andrew” in a message addressed to me, I’m more likely to see it because I’m looking for posts containing that word.
If you want to flag something urgently, it’s best to use social media. You can reach me on Bluesky at @andrewsparrowgdn.bsky.social. The Guardian has stopped posting from their official account on
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important events
Education Secretary Jacqui Smith says Starmer will put ‘the interests of the British people’ first in every decision he makes
Jacqui SmithThe Minister of Education is making a broadcast this morning. Speaking to Times Radio in question he would be happy [Keir Starmer] will continue” – this appeared to be a confirmation that Starmer would announce his resignation, but it could also be a confirmation that Smith has read the papers.
He also said:
My understanding from speaking to people close to the Prime Minister yesterday is that the Prime Minister has spent the weekend thinking really carefully about the future of the country, about what is the best thing to do for the British people.
Meanwhile, he is of course also busy with the government, responding to the horrific train crash, speaking to the chief executive of the East Midlands ambulance service, responding to the attack in Edinburgh.
But he is always thinking carefully about the future of this country and the interests of the British people – all the while putting these ahead of the interests of the party – and will make his own decisions in the light of a significant amount of pressure and turmoil, as everyone will clearly see.
Peter KyleIn his interview with the BBC yesterday, the Minister of Finance emphasized that Starmer’s priority is to act in line with the national interest.
Libby Brooks He wrote about Keir Starmer’s plight in this morning’s First Edition briefing. Here it is.
And here’s a quote.
I have since reported on people’s anger at successive prime ministers, but across the spectrum none have been more viscerally unpopular than Starmer; That’s why I called Polly [Toynbee]who is busy working on his column, to ask what it is about him that stirs so much passion. I heard it myself on the doorstep during the last Holyrood election campaign: welfare reforms, Gaza, Mandelson… No clothes peg was big enough. And yet Starmer didn’t take us to an illegal war or party while grieving relatives were kept away from their dying loved ones during Covid lockdowns.
Is it due to Starmer’s poor storytelling, or voters’ pent-up frustrations, or simply lingering criticism of politics in the social media age?
“I tried to analyze this a bit in my column,” Polly tells me, “which is a sort of warning to Andy Burnham that first impressions are very important. First there was Starmer’s very sombre speech on the Downing Street lawn, then there was Rachel Reeves’s very dismal £22m black hole…” Polly’s list goes on: freebies, winter fuel payment, farmers’ tax.
“They’ve done a lot of things behind the scenes that are really important – Great British Energy, the wealth fund – but they’re not the sort of things people will notice.
Polly adds: “The interesting thing is that the last four prime ministers have each been the most unpopular prime minister ever.” “This is extraordinary. Perhaps we are in a period of such hatred for politics after 20 years of stagnation and disappointing expectations.”
Here are some photos from Downing Street this morning.
Keir Starmer expected to announce release schedule
Good morning. Tomorrow is the 10th anniversary of the referendum to leave the EU, which means Wednesday is the 10th anniversary of David Cameron announcing his resignation as Prime Minister. After Cameron was sacked as a result of his own referendum, three more Conservative Prime Ministers were sacked by their own MPs (Theresa May, Boris Johnson and Liz Truss) and another by voters (Rishi Sunak). Keir Starmer has been Prime Minister for less than two years, but he is about to become the sixth Prime Minister to be sacked in a decade and will almost certainly be replaced by Andy Burnham.
In the past, the British used to joke that Italy was a country with constantly changing prime ministers. These days Italy seems a beacon of stability and Britain has become a place never too far from another round of political upheaval.
Starmer spent the weekend at Checkers thinking about his future. He is now back in London and – although No 10 has not confirmed this – journalists are likely to be on standby for an announcement this morning.
Here’s our story in one night Peter Walker And Pippa Crerar.
While Starmer’s resignation seems inevitable, we don’t know whether it will be a leadership election or (more likely) an uncontested transfer of power to Burnham. We don’t know whether Starmer will offer to stay until September or whether the handover will be accelerated. We will learn more as the day goes on.
The critical incident is not in the log because it has not been confirmed, but these are the timings we have.
11.30: A lobby briefing is expected to be held in Downing Street.
14.30: Andy Burnham will take his seat in the House of Commons as the new MP for Makerfield.
After 15.30: Keir Starmer is expected to make a Commons statement regarding the G7 summit last week.
If you would like to contact me, please send a message below the line or send a message on social media during comments open hours (between 10:00 – 15:00). I can’t read all messages BTL, but if you type “Andrew” in a message addressed to me, I’m more likely to see it because I’m looking for posts containing that word.
If you want to flag something urgently, it’s best to use social media. You can reach me on Bluesky at @andrewsparrowgdn.bsky.social. The Guardian has stopped posting from their official account on
I find it very helpful for readers to point out errors, even minor typos. No mistake is too small to be corrected. I also find your questions very interesting. I can’t promise to respond to them all, but I will try to respond as much as I can, either on BTL or sometimes on the blog.
