LONDON: British Prime Minister Keir Starmer nearly collapsed when he found himself in the dustbin of history on Monday when he was removed from office like Theresa May, Boris Johnson and Liz Truss before him.
10 by his deputies.After just two years in office, and having watched his authority within his party erode following Andy Burnham’s landslide by-election victory in Makerfield, he walked out on the stage in front of Number 10 and Starmer delivered his resignation speech, despite previously insisting he would not stand down.UK reform leader Nigel Farage immediately called for a general election. Beethoven’s “Ode to Joy” was blared from a loudspeaker outside the gates by anti-Brexit campaigner Steve Bray, almost drowning out his words and making them sound like a funeral service.After a weekend of reflection at Checkers on Monday, in front of No 10 staff and swarms of press, Starmer said he was aware his party did not believe it was best placed to lead Labor at the next general election. He said: “I heard the answer and I accept it with all kindness,” explaining that he had already informed the king that he would step down. Nominations for the Labor leadership are scheduled to open on July 9, with completion by July 16.
“I will give my successor my full support,” he said, adding that he would remain interim prime minister until a new prime minister is appointed, which will happen before September 1, and could be much sooner.
“When I leave the biggest job in the country, I will spend more time on the job that matters most: being the best husband I can be to my wonderful wife in Vic, and being the best father I can be to my beautiful children,” he said, his voice cracking and his chin wobbling. He then went to hug Victoria to applause from the staff. It was a rare moment in which Starmer was able to connect with the public, something he had been unable to do throughout his time as Prime Minister, leading to Labor falling in the polls and the reform movement rising in the UK. Starmer has been in opinion polls as the UK’s least popular prime minister ever.The markets did not react as expected to the resignation. Former Tory MP Michael Gove on Sunday described Starmer looking out over the green meadows of Checkers and seeing “Burnham Wood” walking towards Checkers, a resemblance of Burnham Wood coming to Dunsinane, a prophecy that signaled the downfall of Macbeth.The cameras quickly moved to Manchester where the press surrounded Andy Burnham as he boarded the 11.39am train to London to be sworn in as Makerfield’s new MP. Before boarding the plane, he tweeted that he planned to enter the driving competition. Three minutes later, former Health Minister Wes Streeting, considered his main leadership rival, tweeted that he supported Burnham and would not run. Television channels then filmed the train from helicopters as it arrived at Euston, where journalists were detained by police as Burnham arrived and was taken in a black taxi to Parliament.
The Cambridge-educated Burnham, who would become Britain’s first Catholic prime minister, has built an alternative Labor brand in Manchester separate from the shenanigans at Westminster. Starmer, a former lawyer, is often described as tough, managerial and process-oriented, while Burnham is seen as more charismatic, relatable and emotionally intelligent.Throughout his time as Labor leader, Keir Starmer criticized the “Tory chaos”.
But on Monday he became the second shortest-serving Labor prime minister ever, after Ramsay Macdonald’s nine-month stint in 1924.The next UK Prime Minister will be the seventh in a decade. Ed Davey, leader of the Liberal Democrats, said in a tweet: “The British people are tired of being let down by an endless round of prime ministers when nothing really changes.” Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch said: “The reason Keir Starmer resigned is because the former Defense Secretary said he did not care about national security.
If Andy Burnham has no answers on national security, we should have a general election.
“Farage, whose party is leading in opinion polls, said, “Andy Burnham did not stand on any platform at all in the last elections. The great British people deserve to have their say.”“Andy Burnham has won back a part of the country that rejected Labor overwhelmingly just weeks ago, which shows that if Labor changes we can still win a general election,” Streeting said, referring to Labour’s disastrous local election results when many seats went to the UK Reform Party. It was those results, the recent scathing resignation speech of former Defense Secretary John Healey, Starmer’s ill-conceived appointment of Peter Mandelson as US ambassador, the unpopular inheritance tax on farmers, the cut in the winter fuel allowance for pensioners, the Chagos deal, the abolition of jury trials, and a whole host of other policies and mistakes, that ultimately led to Starmer’s downfall.
