Sir Keir Starmer Resigns as UK Labour Leader, Andy Burnham Frontrunner

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A recap on Sir Keir Starmer's resignation

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By Claire Campbell

It's been a big day in UK politics, not entirely unexpected, but very significant nonetheless with Sir Keir Starmer announcing his resignation as leader of the Labour party which means he will no longer be PM once a new leader is chosen.

Let's take a look at how the day has unfolded.

Sir Keir Starmer announced his resignation at 10 Downing Street and unveiled a timeline for his replacement.

Sir Keir was the UK's sixth prime minister in 10 years and had been in the position for two years.

Nominations will open for the Labour leadership position on July 9 and close July 16, with the new prime minister to be in place before parliament resumes on September 1.

Andy Burnham was sworn in as the new Makerfield MP and has announced he will stand to become the next PM.

Andy Burnham is currently the only MP to announce his plans to apply for the position.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, along with many other world leaders, have praised Starmer's contribution to the UK.

Thanks for joining us this evening. We're going to leave our live coverage here. Good night!

Who will stand against Andy Burnham? Maybe no one

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By Europe correspondent Elias Clure

Andy Burnham now appears to have a very clear path to becoming prime minister after six weeks of political manoeuvring by his political allies in Westminster.

Former health secretary, Wes Streeting, who had threatened to challenge Sir Keir Starmer is now backing Mr Burnham, despite coming from an opposing faction to the former Manchester Mayor.

Streeting’s supporters in the centre-right or “Blaire” sect of the party are now likely to offer their support to Mr Burnham as well.

Ed Milliband, a former Labour leader who was also said to be jostling for the leadership, has reportedly been offered a senior role in the cabinet should Mr Burnham become prime minister.

And it’s now expected he’ll also throw his support behind the new Makerfield MP.

Former Deputy Prime Minister, Angela Rayner, has also been touted as a future PM and there had been speculation that she would also run in a leadership contest.

But Ms Rayner and Andy Burnham are considered long-time political allies and personal friends.

The pair are in the same “soft left” Labour faction and have worked closely together as prominent politicians in Manchester.

Former US president Harry Truman once said, "if you want loyalty in politics...buy a dog”.

Political allegiances can always change but Angela Rayner has given no indication she will stand against her old mate.

There may be other MPs waiting for the dust to settle before they announce a challenge, but at this stage Mr Burnham’s path to Number 10 appears to be very smooth indeed.

PM's exit timeline leaves UK without a leader, opposition says

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By Claire Campbell

The leader of the Conservative Party - otherwise known as the Tories - Kemi Badenoch has accused the outgoing prime minister of partaking in a "farewell tour" after Sir Keir Starmer unveiled the timeline for his departure.

The timeline is as follows:

July 9 - Nominations open to become leader of the Labour Party.

July 16 - Nominations close. If there's only one candidate, they will automatically become leader, otherwise a leadership contest will be held.

September 1 - Parliament resumes with a new prime minister.

But Badenoch says that leaves the UK without a leader for more than two months.

"The country is not being governed and Labour say there won't be a Prime Minister till September," she wrote on X.

"Keir Starmer is off on a farewell tour and Andy Burnham wants a summer holiday.

"Neither is thinking about our national security."

Andy Burnham sworn in as MP

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By Claire Campbell

Andy Burnham has just been sworn in as the new MP for Makerfield in the House of Commons.

There was lots of cheering from the Labour bench during the brief swearing in ceremony when he took the oath.

The six leaders the UK has seen in the past decade

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By Nelli Saarinen

With Keir Starmer's resignation, Britain will be preparing for its seventh prime minister in a decade.

The chaos dates back to the Brexit referendum — where the British public voted in favour of leaving the European Union — 10 years ago.

Prior to Brexit, Conservative PM David Cameron held the position for six years.

He quit in June 2016, after the referendum (which he introduced despite supporting Britain's EU membership) passed with 52 per cent of those who voted choosing to leave the EU.

Theresa May succeeded him, but quit in 2019 after failing to negotiate a deal on how Britain should leave the union.

Boris Johnson then took over the Conservative party leadership and led the party to election victory, but stepped down following a long list of scandals (including the infamous partygate) in July 2022.

Liz Truss succeeded Johnson in September 2022, but only lasted 44 days before resigning because the unfunded tax cuts in her "mini-budget" caused chaos on the financial markets.

Rishi Sunak became the next Conservative prime minister in October 2022, pledging to restore stability, but lost the 2024 election.

Labour leader Keir Starmer became prime minister after winning the election in July 2024— and resigned today, just two years later, leaving the job open for the next contender.

Too early to talk about UK election, Andy Burnham says

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By Claire Campbell

Andy Burnham, who is currently the frontrunner to replace Sir Keir Starmer as prime minister, said there were many steps ahead when asked if he planned to call a general election in the UK.

Burnham has just arrived in London from Manchester to be formally sworn in as the new MP for Makerfield after he won a by-election last week.

When asked if he would call an election, which he could only do if he became leader of the Labour Party, Burnham said: "You're jumping several hurdles ahead there."

Burnham is the only MP who has so far confirmed he will enter the leadership contest, with nominations due by mid-July.

Angela Rayner pays tribute to Starmer's legacy

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By Nelli Saarinen

Angela Rayner, a Labour MP and former Deputy Prime Minister under Sir Keir Starmer, has hailed his achievements in office despite previously criticising his direction as leader.

Rayner resigned as Starmer's deputy in September 2025 after admitting to underpaying tax on her property, breaching ministerial code.

She was later cleared of deliberate wrongdoing in an investigation by UK tax authorities.

"I was proud to serve as Deputy as he led our party into government," Rayner wrote.

"History will remember not just the challenges he faced but the achievements he oversaw. I pay tribute to his record of dedicated public service."

Is Burnham the man to claw back support from Reform?

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By Nelli Saarinen

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Andy Burnham's supporters feel that he is the man to help Labour beat the growing popularity of Reform UK, says Casey Briggs, the ABC's Chief Elections and Data Analyst.

Reform UK is a populist, right-wing party led by veteran politician Nigel Farage, one of the chief architects of Brexit — the UK's referendum to leave the European Union.

"[Andy Burnham] and his allies are pointing to the Makerfield by-election result that saw him win very convincingly over Reform. This is a seat that Reform ... would have been hoping to pick up," Briggs says.

"It's one of the seats that they think the demographics … lend themselves to a Reform pick up at some point. Yet they came actually not even a close second in that race.

"So, Andy Burnham and his supporters would be saying if anyone can beat Reform, that result proves that Andy Burnham is the guy. "

Reform UK has overtaken Labour to lead national polls in the UK.

It has cannibalised the support of the Conservative Party, Briggs says, which helped the Labour Party achieve its landslide 2024 win.

"It is very interesting that yes, as we're seeing in Australia, this right-wing, anti–immigration party, a little bit like One Nation — the closest sort of analogue to Australian politics — is not just nipping at the heels of the two major parties, it's overtaken it."

'Incredibly popular': Who is Andy Burnham?

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By Nelli Saarinen

Andy Burnham, a former long-time MP who is standing to become the UK's next PM, is "incredibly popular" and "can relate to people", according to one of his most vocal supporters.

Former UK health secretary Alan Johnson has told the ABC Mr Burnham had "a bit of stardust sprinkled over him".

"Interestingly enough, he's the first leader of the Labour Party from the north [of England] since Harold Wilson way back in the '60s and early '70s. That kind of means something over here."

Mr Burnham last week won a by-election in Makerfield in England's north-west by a convincing margin in what had been expected to be a tight contest.

It means he will return to parliament. He was previously an MP for around 16 years before resigning to become the mayor of Greater Manchester in 2017.

"He's a very natural guy. He's not away with the fairies on the left. He's a moderate," Mr Johnson said.

"And he's very good at getting things done — has been in Manchester, very different job being prime minister, but that has built his reputation."

Mixed reaction from the UK public to the PM's resignation

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By Claire Campbell

There's been a lot of support for Sir Keir Starmer within Westminster.

But what's the feeling among voters?

"It doesn't matter. The situation, it doesn't help. It’s just [a] new face, but the same," Dmitry Serbukhov, a 45-year-old chauffeur said.

"It just seems to be a modern day phenomenon that British prime ministers don't last very long. So I was very, disappointed with that," Charles Guthrie, a 52-year-old lawyer said.

"I'm glad, really. Just needed a change. I think like most of the country are probably just feeling the same way. I'm just worried it's going to be, out of the frying pan and into the fire now, with potentially this Andy Burnham coming in," Alex Brett, a pest control agent, said.

For 37-year-old Bart Kuchrski, who has lived in London for 18 years, change can't come soon enough.

"Right now, you just work like a slave, and you don’t have money for nothing. I'm a hardworking labourer. I work in a construction site, and it's really, this country went down for a couple of years already,"

"I think Andy Burnham might be a good idea. I think give him a chance. Can't be any worse than anyone else that's tried," Nannette Quinn, a paralegal, said.

Reporting with Reuters

Brexit vote a decade on: Britain appears less stable

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By Syan Vallance in London

Sir Keir Starmer resigned one day before the 10th anniversary of the Brexit referendum, in which the United Kingdom voted to leave the European Union.

Back then, 51.9 per cent of voters chose to leave the EU and after several delays, Brexit became official on January 31, 2020.

In the years since, critics claim the decision has hurt the UK's economy, while the most vocal supporters of the decision claim the country just isn't capitalising on the opportunities outside the EU.

Analysts I've spoken to say the divisions created by Brexit have made the nation difficult to govern.

Before 2016, the British political system was traditionally very stable.

There have been 58 British Prime Ministers since Sir Robert Walpole first took the role on in 1721. There have been six since Brexit, and by September, there'll one more.

Enormous anger towards politicians in Labour heartland

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By Europe Correspondent Elias Clure

I’ve spent a lot of time in some of Britain’s most deprived areas, cities and towns that were once considered Labour heartland.

There is enormous anger towards politicians in these parts of the UK and a feeling that blue-collar workers have been ignored by leaders in Westminster for decades.

Despite his own working-class upbringing, Sir Keir struggled to cut through to voters in these communities.

In towns like Blackburn or Hull in England’s north or Newport in the south of Wales, people would describe the PM as being “out of touch” or “weak”.

Others would just roll their eyes or scoff at the very mention of him.

Polling certainly reflects the feeling of contempt towards the outgoing Prime Minister; the latest YouGov polling shows that 74 per cent of UK voters think the PM is doing a bad job, it was as high as 81 per cent at the start of the year.

Sir Keir’s falling popularity in some traditional Labour areas has opened the door for Reform, the right-wing populist party led by Nigel Farage, and spooked Labour MPs.

Put simply, Sir Keir’s colleagues no longer thought he could beat Mr Farage in a general election and were worried swathes of MPs in Labour constituencies would lose their seats.

Mr Farage has a simple message which is effectively "Britain is broken and only we can fix it", linking many of Britain's problems to high immigration.

And that simple message appears to be cutting through given the UK’s poorest areas have seen wages stagnate and inflation rise, as well as, NHS waiting times balloon and councils cutting back on things like waste collection and road maintenance.

Starmer won in a landslide less than two years ago. What happened?

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By Nelli Saarinen

When Sir Keir Starmer was elected in a landslide win less than two years ago, most people expected him to last in the job, says Jill Rutter, a senior fellow with the Institute for Government and was a civil servant in the British Treasury.

"I think most people thought, well, this looks like a prime minister who should serve out the full four or five years that we expect our prime ministers to serve," Ms Rutter told the ABC.

But although Sir Keir's win was big in terms of seats, he "didn't do that well in terms of vote share," Ms Rutter says.

"It's always described as a loveless landslide of people basically choosing whichever option allowed them to kick out the conservatives. So, it was quite a negative result in that sense,"

"And then the early days of his premiership were marked by some quite significant missteps, whether over sort of trivial ethics issues. Remember, this is someone who'd gone very big on Boris Johnson's ethics failings. Then over trying to remove the winter fuel allowance from older people didn't go just."

Larry the cat watches another PM resign

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By Syan Vallance in London

Spare a thought for Larry the cat, who has outlasted a lot of British PMs in Downing Street now.

Larry was spotted surveying the media pack in the midst of the chaos on Monday morning, just before the prime minister resigned.

Larry, known as the British cabinet's Mouser in Chief, was born in 2007 and has lived at 10 Downing Street since 2011.

Tributes coming in thick and fast for Starmer now he's announced his resignation