UK PM Starmer Resigns

K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced Monday that he will stand down as Labour leader and prime minister, ending months of political turmoil and opening a contest to replace him. The announcement follows mounting pressure on the prime minister after Labour suffered heavy losses in local elections in May and faced an increasingly vocal rebellion from his own lawmakers over his leadership and policy agenda. The move comes less than two years after Starmer led Labour to one of its largest parliamentary majorities in the 2024 general election.

m. in London, Starmer said he would remain in post until any leadership contest is completed, which he said would help ensure an orderly handover of power. 's premiership. In a short speech, a visibly emotional Starmer said that entering 10 Downing Street had been the "proudest moment of my life," adding that, under his tenure, Britain's reputation in the world had been restored, with investment secured and improvements in workers' rights delivered.

However, Starmer conceded that Labour colleagues had since been asking whether he was best placed to lead the party into the next general election. "I have heard the answer from my parliamentary party. I accept that answer with good grace. 3207.

K. 8452%. K. gilt yields jumped on Friday following Burnham's by-election win.

K. K. is borrowing too much and that its public debt levels are too high, but he stressed that the country is not a "fiscal outlier" in this regard relative to other G7 countries. K.

5% real GDP growth. K. still has the highest borrowing costs in the G7, and has remained the most inflationary economy in the G7 on average for most of the past 10 years. "This is the thing that the market is concerned about," Pickering told CNBC's "Squawk Box Europe" shortly after Starmer's announcement.

S. ambassador, further damaged intra-party relations. An Ipsos poll published on Friday suggested that 52% of the British public think Starmer should stand down as prime minister, five percentage points higher than in May, while 35% think he should continue. K.

voted to leave the European Union. His successor will be the country's seventh leader in that period, underscoring how political and economic turmoil continue to unsettle British politics long after the Brexit process was concluded. David Cameron resigned after campaigning for Remain and losing the 2016 referendum. 's relationship with the EU before stepping down.

Boris Johnson followed, but was forced to quit in July 2022 after revelations over his handling of misconduct allegations against Conservative deputy chief whip Chris Pincher triggered a wave of ministerial resignations. Johnson was replaced by Liz Truss, whose September 2022 "mini-budget" of unfunded tax cuts sent Gilt yields soaring and pushed the pound lower. She resigned after just 50 days in office. Rishi Sunak then took over, confronting soaring inflation and a cost-of-living crisis worsened by the war in Ukraine.

Starmer defeated Sunak in the July 2024 general election, returning Labour to power after 14 years in a landslide win. But despite securing a 174-seat majority, Starmer's government was ultimately weakened by dwindling poll ratings, Labour infighting and growing public frustration over its failure to deliver quickly on growth and the cost of living.