Downing streak: On the Starmer resignation, British politics

Subscribed with another email? Logout and Login with that one. Account subscription benefits alongside Premium Stories, Editorials, Opinions and more. Unlock these with Subscription The View From India Looking at World Affairs from the Indian perspective. First Day First Show News and reviews from the world of cinema and streaming. Today's Cache Your download of the top 5 technology stories of the day. Science For All The weekly newsletter from science writers takes the jargon out of science and puts the fun in! Data Point Decoding the headlines with facts, figures, and numbers THEdge At the cutting edge of education and careers Health Matters Ramya Kannan writes to you on getting to good health, and staying there Gender Agenda Stories from beyond the binary. The Hindu On Books Books of the week, reviews, excerpts, new titles and features. Keir Starmer entered Downing Street in July 2024 with a landslide victory. Ending 14 years of Conservative rule, marked by Brexit and the chaos that followed, he promised to build a government for all and bridge the widening trust deficit between the public and the political elite. Less than two years later, the former lawyer who took pride in taking Labour back to the political centre after the brief left-wing interlude of Jeremy Corbyn, has resigned amid mounting public discontent and growing revolt within the Labour party. Mr. Starmer rode an anti-Tory wave but soon found the public turning against him over his lapses in judgment and slow economic progress. His uncharismatic, technocratic centrism failed to withstand the rapid changes shaping British politics at a time when far-right parties were surging across continental Europe. The tide began to turn after revelations that Peter Mandelson, Mr. Starmer’s choice as Britain’s Ambassador to Washington, had links to the late convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein. Pressure mounted after Labour lost local elections in England and polls in Wales and Scotland. When Andy Burnham, Labour’s ‘King in the North’, won the Makerfield byelection and returned to Westminster, Mr. Starmer’s fate was sealed, and he resigned on June 22. Under Mr. Starmer, the U.K. saw modest improvements in key economic indicators. Its economy began growing faster than those of its G-7 peers, while inflation remained broadly under control despite conflicts in Europe and Asia. New laws strengthened workers rights, and statutory minimum wage rates were raised. Yet, these incremental gains were insufficient to satisfy an electorate that had given Labour a commanding mandate. Mr. Starmer proved largely ineffective in addressing the economic anxieties of the working-class communities that delivered his majority, or the cultural grievances Reform UK had been amplifying. Labour MPs started turning against him, making it difficult for him to continue in office. Mr. Burnham, who belongs to the soft left camp of Labour, is expected to be elected as the party’s new leader and the next Prime Minister — and at a moment when the old bipolar consensus of British politics is breaking down. Reform is no longer a fringe force. With the conservatives, Britain’s traditional vehicle of the right, in deep decline, Reform is emerging as the second pole. Mr. Burnham should recognise that the Starmerite centrism is unlikely to withstand the onslaught of a far-right cultural politics entrenched in English nationalism. He must unite a fractious party around a progressive economic and foreign policy agenda and build a government that works for all while standing firmly on the right side of global issues. If Labour fails to reconnect with its core values and social base, it risks losing even the constituencies that have long sustained it. United Kingdom / politics / government / political parties / Europe / political development / economy (general) / unrest, conflicts and war / Asia / G7 summit / labour legislation / international relations / Brexit Copyright© 2026, THG PUBLISHING PVT LTD. or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. Terms & conditions | Institutional Subscriber Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments. We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.

Downing streak: On the Starmer resignation, British politics

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Downing streak: On the Starmer resignation, British politics

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