Starmer's resignation

Keir Starmer resigns as British Prime Minister: "I have heard the party's response"

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer resigns as Labour leader and prime minister. In front of the assembled press corps at Downing Street, he also announces that he will remain in office until a new leader is in place before parliament opens in September.

According to Starmer, his party has questioned whether he is the best suited to lead the party in the next general election. "I have heard the response," he says, adding that he "accepts it with humility."

- Walking up Downing Street two years ago was the proudest moment of my life, says Starmer.

Starmer goes on to explain what he and the party have accomplished during his time in power. With tears in his eyes, he finally thanks his wife and children and says that he will now spend more time with them.

Starmer has long been pressured by weak opinion polls. The situation has been brought to a head by the fact that challenger Andy Burnham is taking his seat in the House of Commons today. Sitting in parliament is a requirement to become Labour's party leader and prime minister.

The next prime minister will be the seventh in a decade

The fact that Keir Starmer is stepping down as Britain's prime minister means that the country will have its seventh person in office within the same decade, writes TT. Since David Cameron resigned in mid-July 2016, Britain has had Theresa May, Boris Johnson, Liz Truss, Rishi Sunak and most recently Keir Starmer as prime minister.

Starmer has struggled with poor opinion polls and several ministers have called for his resignation. The hope is that his successor will stabilize Labour's numbers in the public opinion. At the moment, there is much evidence that it will be challenger Andy Burnham who moves into Downing Street. In that case, he needs time to build up a staff before taking office.

– Andy has no team ready to move into Downing Street, he needs time to prepare, a minister tells The Guardian anonymously.

Analysis: All the choices of power paralyzed Starmer

No British prime minister has looked so suited to the job on paper and then proven to be so fundamentally wrong in practice as Keir Starmer, writes The Guardian's Peter Walker. He has interviewed historian Anthony Seldon – who has written biographies of every prime minister from John Major to Rishi Sunak – who states that Starmer had no idea what he was doing.

Firstly, he never managed to figure out what the job of prime minister was, Seldon believes. Secondly, he did not know what policies he wanted to pursue. Thirdly, he did not know who would make it happen. It may sound harsh, writes Walker, but Starmer was paralyzed by "the endless choices of power."