Keir Starmer has announced, he will resign as Labour leader and step down as U.K. prime minister.
Starmer confirmed on Monday morning that he will quit following weeks of mounting speculation amid falling poll numbers and growing unrest within the ruling Labour Party.
He said he had informed King Charles of his decision and that he would remain as prime minister until any contest to replace him is complete, which he said will be by September at the latest.
An emotional Starmer’s voice cracked as he thanked his wife, Victoria, and their children at the end of his brief speech.
He becomes the sixth British prime minister to be forced out in just the past 10 years.
While Starmer had repeatedly insisted he would fight any challenge to his leadership, pressure intensified last week when Andy Burnham, the mayor of the Greater Manchester region in northwest England, made a dramatic return to Parliament to set up a potential contest.
Shortly after Starmer’s speech, Burnham confirmed he would put his name forward in any leadership contest. Under the U.K.’s parliamentary system, whoever is named the next Labour leader will automatically become the new prime minister as leader of the largest party.
Starmer’s fall in popularity has been remarkable, particularly given the party’s huge general election victory in July 2024, which swept Labour to power for the first time since 2010. In hindsight, that victory was as much a result of the unpopularity of the Conservative government it replaced as of any overwhelming support for Labour or for Starmer himself.
In the subsequent months, Starmer’s support in the polls has shrunk, with critics repeatedly highlighting poor economic growth and a number of policy reversals on key promises, including benefits, taxes and workers’ rights.
Labour MPs have also grown increasingly worried by the significant rise in popularity of the Reform Party, led by Nigel Farage, which many experts say now poses a genuine challenge at the next general election.-Yahoo News
miles), police said.
Police added that they suspect the shipment was landed from the same mother ship as 178 kilograms (392 pounds) of cocaine previously seized in Queensland. Six people have been charged over that cocaine and 142 kilograms (313 pounds) of methamphetamine that was also found in the investigation.
They suspect the mother ship to be MV Wealth, a Belize-flagged cargo ship that has been seized by authorities in Solomon Islands on suspicion of involvement in transitional organised crime.
The Solomons are 2,000 kilometers (1,200 miles) northeast of Queensland.
Australian Federal Police Commander Stephen Jay said organized crime groups were increasingly targeting Queensland’s 13,000-kilometer (8,000-mile) coastline to smuggle drugs.
Australians pay some of the world’s highest prices for cocaine, which makes Australia a lucrative market for drug traffickers. AP
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