Keir Starmer to step down as prime minister two years after historic election victory | Keir Starmer

Keir Starmer has announced he will step down as prime minister following days of intense pressure from Labor MPs, including cabinet ministers, following Andy Burnham’s return to Westminster.

Less than two years after a historic election victory, Starmer faces calls from MPs to set a timetable for his departure; many had feared the threat from Nigel Farage’s party ahead of the next general election.

While Starmer insisted on Friday he would not enter any leadership contest, talks with ministers and time spent with his wife Victoria at Checkers at the weekend appear to have decisively changed his thinking.

More than half a dozen cabinet ministers are understood to have told him privately that his time was up, while Starmer and his inner circle began working on drafts of a resignation speech on Saturday.

Starmer’s decision to announce his own departure could kick off a race among Labor MPs to become the UK’s seventh prime minister in 10 years; Burnham, who saw Reform challenge to win the Makerfield by-election, is front-runners to win this race.

But it could also result in a coronation if no other candidate, including health minister Wes Streeting, receives the required 81 nominations or if they fail to reach an agreement with Manchester’s former mayor.

Starmer will remain in his role at Downing Street until any leadership contest or devolution is completed, and his successor will have to cope with the serious challenges of the UK economy and the unstable international environment.

Some Labor MPs fear Burnham may be unprepared for the job and want her to face the scrutiny of a comprehensive contest, while others fear it will further damage Labour’s public rating and they need to make a transition as quickly as possible.

Starmer resigned after months of pressure on his leadership; That push was first nearly derailed in February when Anas Sarwar, the party’s leader in Scotland, called for him to resign. At that time the cabinet gathered.

Despite his poor personal approval ratings, he has appeared to be on firmer ground in recent months due to his handling of the Middle East crisis and his refusal to follow Donald Trump’s order to take the UK into war with Iran.

But that ended in April when the Guardian revealed that Peter Mandelson, the controversial choice as the UK’s ambassador to Washington, had been appointed despite failing a vetting.

Mandelson’s appointment was the latest in what many within Labor see as a long string of political misjudgments by Starmer, including curbs on winter fuel payments and benefit cuts, that have seen the party fall in the polls.

His willingness to reverse these decisions further increased his popularity within the parliamentary Labor Party; large parts of the party began to view him as increasingly weak and ineffective. Some lawmakers were also concerned about his poor communication skills.

Many MPs were shocked by Starmer’s unpopularity on the doorstep while campaigning during the May election; many believed it had become a lightning rod for wider frustrations with the political system itself.

As the results came in with significant losses across the country, the scale of the electoral challenge facing Labor became clear and MPs’ voices calling on Starmer to set an exit date grew into a steady stream.

The increasingly precarious nature of Starmer’s premiership was highlighted by Streeting’s resignation days later – apparently after failing to secure the numbers needed to mount a challenge – and the subsequent vacancy in the seat of Makerfield, which gave Burnham a path back to parliament.

He has since also lost defense secretary John Healey over his military spending plans, and a view has taken hold among Labor MPs that Starmer’s leadership is so fragile that his days in Downing Street are numbered – despite his insistence that he will continue to fight.

Starmer’s departure marks a dire slump since he became the fourth Labor leader to win an election in 2024, taking more seats than anyone else since Tony Blair’s landslide in 1997.