British PM Keir Starmer ready to quit, report says
But a source said the prime minister remained focused on getting on with the job of governing
Britain’s Observer newspaper said Prime Minister Keir Starmer was expected to resign on Monday and set out a timetable for his departure, though a government source said Starmer remained focused on getting on with the job of governing.
The threat to Starmer’s position, which has been building for months, increased sharply on Friday when his rival Andy Burnham won a seat in parliament that would allow him to launch a formal leadership challenge.
The Observer report said Starmer was discussing the matter with his wife at his Chequers country residence before making a final decision, but that senior Labour figures expected a clear statement on his future as early as Monday.
However, a government source said Starmer remained focused on his job and pointed to previous statements he has made to that effect.
The British leader said on Friday he would fight any challenge to his leadership and urged Labour not to tear itself apart with infighting.
Starmer led the centre-left Labour Party to a landslide election win in 2024 but has become deeply unpopular after a series of scandals and policy U-turns that have given many voters an overall impression that he cannot deliver the improvement to their standards of living that he promised.
If he were to quit or be ousted, it would mean the country installing its seventh prime minister in just over a decade – the highest turnover in nearly two centuries, reflective of anger at successive governments’ failures to improve public services and tackle issues like illegal immigration.