'My work is done': Keir Starmer resigns, Andy Burnham set to become new UK prime minister

Keir Starmer traveled to Buckingham Palace and tendered his resignation as the prime minister of United Kingdom to King Charles III on Monday(July 20). Soon his successor, Andy Burnham, will be invited invited by the King to be appointed as the new prime minister and form a new government.

Before heading to the Buckingham Palace to tender his resignation, Starmer delivered his final speech outside 10 Downing Street and declared "My work is done."

"In six and a half years I took our party from a historic defeat in 2019, changed it so it was fit to face the country, and won a landslide general election victory in 2024," Starmer said.

He described his tenure as the prime minister of UK as "the privilege of my life". He also said he had the firm belief that Britain was "stronger and fairer" than it was two years ago.

Starmer announces resignation

Starmer announced his resignation on June 22 after spending less than two years in office. He became the seventh British prime minister to leave office in the last 10 years, a statistic that makes UK politics look less like a stable democracy. Speaking at a press briefing, Starmer said he had “heard the answer” from his party and accepted it “with good grace”. He said, “I will resign as leader of the Labour Party.”

Starmer led the UK Labour Party to a landslide victory in general election held in July 2024, but severe economic struggles, unpopular welfare cuts, and a major political scandal regarding the appointment of Peter Mandelson led to his downfall.

One of the biggest blows to Starmer came in the form of him appointing Peter Mandelson as UK's ambassador to the United States. Mandelson had ties to disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein and had allegedly passed government information to him in the late 2000s. And when the Epstein files was released by the Trump government in September 2025 his ties to Epstein became even more clearer.