Keir Starmer will be remembered as a leader who came to power on a wave of promise and left under a cloud of political turbulence. On 22 June 2026, the former human rights lawyer stood in front of Number 10 Downing Street and told the country he was resigning as Prime Minister and as leader of the Labour Party. It was a moment that many had expected for months, yet it still sent a shockwave through British politics.
His resignation was not caused by a single event. It followed growing unrest inside his own parliamentary party, a series of damaging scandals, and the brutal reality of governing in post-Brexit Britain. For a Prime Minister who had once seemed unbeatable after leading Labour to a landslide general election victory, the fall was swift.
From lawyer to Labour leader
Keir Starmer was not a career politician in the traditional sense. Before entering Parliament, he built a reputation as one of Britain's most prominent human rights lawyers. He studied law at the University of Leeds and later at St Edmund Hall, University of Oxford, graduating in 1986. He worked on death penalty cases in the British Caribbean and served as Director of Public Prosecutions for England and Wales, a role similar to Attorney General. His legal career gave him a reputation for discipline, rigour and caution.
In 2015, Starmer was elected MP for the London constituency of Holborn and St Pancras. Five years later, in 2020, he became leader of the Labour Party, replacing Jeremy Corbyn. He quickly sought to move Labour back toward the centre, distancing the party from the hard-left positions of his predecessor. This made him a reassuring figure for many voters, but it also created enemies on the left of the party.
Starmer's private life remained relatively stable throughout his political rise. He married Victoria Alexander, a former lawyer who works in the NHS, in 2007. The couple have two children, a son born in 2008 and a daughter born in 2009.
Prime Minister at last
In the 2024 general election, Labour won a decisive victory, ending fourteen years of Conservative government. Starmer became Prime Minister with a promise to rebuild Britain, restore trust in politics, and deliver economic stability. The mood was optimistic. The country was tired of Conservative chaos, and Starmer appeared to offer calm, managerial competence.
But his premiership soon encountered difficulties. The legacy of Brexit hung over everything. British politics had already consumed six Prime Ministers in a decade, and Starmer found himself struggling against the same forces that had destroyed his predecessors. Economic stagnation, migration tensions and internal party divisions made governing extremely difficult.
A series of crises
One of the early tests came with the nationalisation of British Steel. On 16 July, Starmer officially announced that the government was taking over the steelmaker, which had previously been controlled by China's Jingye Group. The government had already taken de facto control in April 2025. The decision was presented as a way to protect jobs and national security, but critics argued it was a sign of economic weakness.
There were also international gestures. In September, the United Kingdom officially recognised the State of Palestine, a move that Starmer defended as part of a broader push for peace. That decision delighted party members on the left but angered Israel and some Western allies. On the world stage, Starmer attended the Group of Seven summit in Évian, where he met Donald Trump, Emmanuel Macron and other leaders. The summit covered trade, Ukraine, artificial intelligence and the Middle East, but it also exposed the limits of Britain's global influence after Brexit.
At home, Starmer's government was haunted by the lingering effects of the Brexit referendum. An editorial at the time spoke of the 'great solitude' of Britain, with economists who had warned against Brexit now feeling bitter vindication. Ten years after the vote, towns like Sunderland, the first place to declare Leave, remained divided. In a reportage marking the anniversary, residents described ongoing tensions and a sense that the promises made in 2016 had not been kept.
Scandals and resignations
The final phase of Starmer's premiership was marked by scandal and rebellion. On 11 June 2026, Defence Secretary John Healey resigned, saying he disagreed with the Prime Minister over an unspecified issue. That resignation was a major blow, suggesting that Starmer had lost control of his own cabinet. Just weeks later, on 22 June, Starmer announced his own resignation.
His departure made him the sixth Prime Minister to leave office in ten years, a statistic that captured Britain's deep instability. The word 'instability' was used again and again in analyses of his fall. With the benefit of hindsight, observers noted that Starmer had never fully escaped the shadow of the Brexit earthquake. The referendum had reshaped every British government since 2016, and Starmer was simply the latest to be consumed by it.
Andy Burnham takes over
Attention quickly turned to the succession. Andy Burnham, the mayor of Greater Manchester and the man nicknamed the 'King of the North', had long been the favourite to replace Starmer. In a crucial parliamentary by-election in the Makerfield constituency on 18 June, Burnham won a seat in Parliament, setting the stage for a leadership challenge. On 22 June, the day Starmer resigned, Burnham was formally invested as an MP. A few weeks later, on 20 July, he became Prime Minister, promising to be 'authentically Labour' and calling himself 'the last chance' of the party.
Burnham's rise was remarkable. He had spent years away from Westminster, building a power base in northern England as a vocal critic of Conservative governments. His campaign for the Labour leadership attracted enormous attention and public sympathy. For many voters, he represented a return to a more socially-minded, community-based form of Labour politics.
Before becoming Prime Minister, Burnham had served as Secretary of State for Health under Gordon Brown, and then spent nearly a decade as mayor of Greater Manchester. He was known for his empathy, his debates with the government over Covid-19 policies, and his ability to connect with working-class voters. His election as MP for Makerfield brought him back to the national stage at exactly the right moment.
The famous cats and the revolving door
No account of this period is complete without mentioning Larry, the tabby cat who has become the real symbol of Downing Street's revolving door. Larry has now served under six Prime Ministers, outlasting each of their governments. In July, with Starmer's departure and Burnham's arrival, Larry moved into yet another new era. There are already signs that he cares little for political loyalty; the cat is famously independent and has been photographed staring down rivals, both feline and human.
For many, Larry's longevity is a painful joke about politics. How could a cat remain stable while the country changed prime ministers six times in a decade? The image of Larry calmly sitting outside Number 10 while political careers ended inside became a metaphor for a country that had lost its ability to govern itself.
Starmer did receive one piece of good news at the end: French President Emmanuel Macron awarded him the Légion d'honneur on 14 July. The ceremony took place as Starmer prepared to step down. It was a gesture of respect for a man who had tried, in difficult circumstances, to keep Britain integrated with Europe despite the catastrophe of Brexit.
But the Légion d'honneur could not change the political arithmetic at home. Starmer leaves Number 10 with his reputation mixed. He will be remembered as the man who ended Conservative rule, nationalised a major steel company, and tried to modernise the Labour Party. He will also be remembered as a Prime Minister who lost the confidence of his own side and became another victim of the Brexit era.
Andy Burnham now carries the burden of that history. His promise to be 'authentically Labour' suggests he intends to govern differently from Starmer, with a more aggressive focus on public services and regional equality. But the problems are enormous: a weakened economy, public anger over migration, the unfinished business of Brexit, and a press that is already scrutinising his every move. The only certainty in British politics is that nothing is certain. As Larry the cat knows, the door of Number 10 turns quickly.
Source:Ouest-France.fr News