Keir Starmer throws in the towel, victim of his own mistakes

LondonA tearful and emotional Keir Starmer, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom for less than two years, announced this Monday that he is stepping down in a speech of just over six minutes. After a weekend of reflection at his country residence, and having informed King Charles III of his decision, the premier has reached the conclusion that everyone around him had already assumed, perhaps less so himself. But the pressure has finally become unbearable in the face of the evident lack of support within the Labour parliamentary group.

He himself acknowledged this from the lectern located in front of the famous black door of Number 10: "The question my party has now asked itself is whether I am the most suitable person to lead us to the next general election [initially scheduled for 2029]. I have heard the response of my parliamentary group to this question, and I accept it with sportsmanship and elegance."

Starmer's farewell was set to the backdrop of the Ode to Joy, an evident reference to Brexit, highlighting the great political instability that the United Kingdom has fallen into since the referendum on membership of the European Union, which will be a decade old tomorrow. The next occupant of Downing Street – very likely Andy Burnham, former Mayor of Greater Manchester – will be the seventh British prime minister in ten years.

Starmer announced his resignation, attempting to defend his legacy: "Look at what we have achieved in just two years: a stronger economy, moving faster than our competitors; wages that have risen above inflation every month since we came to power. We have secured investment, infrastructure is being built, we have ended austerity; we have achieved the fastest reduction in NHS waiting lists in seventeen years…" But all this is not enough in the face of the serious political mistakes made, the lack of a convincing narrative, and a brutal drop in his popularity. He resigns and the period to elect a new successor opens.

Starmer detailed that all this will begin immediately, and that he will ask the national executive committee of the Labour Party to set a timetable for candidacies to open on July 9 and for the entire process to be resolved before the summer parliamentary recess in mid-July.

According to the plan outlined by Starmer, if there is more than one candidate – which will require the support of at least 81 parliamentarians – and a formal leadership contest is necessary, the new leader of the Labour party will be chosen before Parliament resumes its sessions in September. In this way, the party aims to avoid months of political uncertainty and to arrive in the autumn with a new, fully consolidated leadership.

Although, as has been pointed out, he has accepted his parliamentary group's decision "with elegance", Starmer leaves convinced that the party is making a serious mistake and is imitating the chaos that befell the Conservative Party, with Theresa May, Boris Johnson, Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak between 2016 and 2022. Despite this, Starmer has assured: "I will give my successor my full and unequivocal support, knowing that he will inherit a much stronger and fairer United Kingdom than the one I inherited two years ago, better prepared to face the challenges ahead and in better condition to ensure that the Labour Party achieves a second term in government".

The second unknown to be resolved

The first unknown of the day has been resolved with the usual choreography. Silence early this morning at Downing Street, no leaks and assumption of the resignation, which was not made official until the operators of the Prime Minister's office began to install the public address system and the lectern outside Downing Street. In the coming hours or days, the great unknown that has opened up this morning will have to be resolved: will there be a leadership race or will Andy Burnham be crowned directly?

The Mayor of Greater Manchester until last week, just elected MP for the Makerfield constituency in the north of England, arrives in London this midday and will take possession of his seat. If the conversations he and his team have with the parliamentary group indicate that he has an overwhelming majority of MPs on his side, very likely there will be no leadership race. In any case, Starmer will continue as acting prime minister until the unknown is resolved.