Starmergeddon: British PM resigns
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
The Economist.
Hello and welcome to the intelligence from the Economist. I'm Rosie Blore. Today on the show, Columbia's new right wing president and Toy Story Five tackles tech.
But first
Why did Prime Minister Keir Starmer announce his resignation just two years after a landslide win?
I have spoken to his majesty the king this morning to inform him of my decision.
This morning Britain's Prime Minister Sakir Starmer said his time was up.
I will resign as leader of the Labour Party.
Only two years after Labour won a resounding victory at the general election, Starmer has lost the support of the country and his party.
The question my party is asking now. Is whether I am best placed. To lead us. into the next general election. I have heard the answer of my parliamentary party. To that question. And I accept that answer. With good grace.
Even as he continued to trumpet Labour's successes, Starmer gave an emotional farewell.
I shall spend more time. on the most important job. Being the best husband I can to my fantastic wife fig. Who's been a rock by my side. Through good times and bad.
Meanwhile, Andy Burnham, who won a crucial by-election on Friday and who is largely assumed to be Stallmer's successor, is heading to Westminster to be sworn in as an MP. Whether Britain now has a leadership contest or a coronation is not yet clear. What is certain is that the country will soon have its seventh Prime Minister in 10 years.
When we spoke on Friday, Keir Starmer was pledging to carry on as Prime Minister and to fight against any challenge from Andy Burnham or from anyone else for the Labour leadership.
Hugo Jai is our Britain political correspondent.
He has admitted this morning he's not going to be able to do that. He said essentially the Labour Party had decided that they needed a new leader to take them into the next election to see off the threat from the right wing populists of Reform UK and that he was not going to be able to do that. So that's why this morning he has announced that he's leaving and set out a timetable for his departure.
So what happens next? What is that timetable?
What happens next? It's in the hands of the committee that runs the Labour Party. Nominations to succeed Starmer as Labour leader and therefore as Prime Minister will open in a couple of weeks' time. And then if there is more than one candidate, a leadership election will run over July and August with a new leader in place by September.
Where did it all go wrong for Starmer?
Well, it went wrong for Starmer almost from the very start. He came to office without much of a strong political strategy and immediately started making mistakes. He scrapped a winter fuel benefit for older people that was hugely popular. He kept taking free gifts and free hospitality where the the public really didn't understand why that was happening. He made the controversial New Labour veteran Peter Mandelson British Britain's ambassador to Washington, despite Mandelson's long and well-documented links to Jeffrey Epstein. That's not to say that Starmer hasn't had successes. He's dealt with Donald Trump surprisingly well. He's brought in some economic reforms that have begun to make a difference. He's actually delivered on some of the ambitions of the left in ways that they like.
For example, workers' rights, strength. strengthening those through some big legislation. But overall he's never managed to shake this impression that he's always been behind the curve and despite those successes, never sort of been on top of things in the way that a leader really has to be.
Why the big shift? On Friday he wasn't just saying he was going to stay, he was saying he'd stand in any leadership contest.
Yeah, that's right. The scale of Andy Burnham's victory last week in the Makerfield by election, I think, has really made up the minds of a lot of Labour MPs that Burnham can make a big difference in Labour's political fortunes and and made the question of what happens with the leadership a lot easier to answer. Most Labour MPs think essentially there should be a straight handover from Starmer to Burnham. And what Happened over the weekend was that even the senior Labour politicians who were very close to Keir Starmer, who've been hugely supportive of him in the past, started to withdraw their support and tell him privately that he had to start setting out a a timetable for a transition.
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Chapters
6 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:03–0:45
2
Why did Prime Minister Keir Starmer announce his resignation just two years after a landslide win?
0:45–7:00
3
What does the Labour Party’s leadership timetable look like after Starmer steps down?
7:00–11:39
4
Will Andy Burnham become the next Labour leader unopposed, and can he unite the party?
11:39–15:44
5
How will Burnham’s policy platform differ from Starmer’s, especially on taxes and public spending?
15:44–19:06
6
Who is Colombia’s new right‑wing president Abelardo de la Espreya and what are his security priorities?
19:06–20:32