LONDON (AP) — British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said Monday he is stepping down as leader of the governing Labour Party and will leave office within weeks, forced out by his own party scarcely two years after being elected in a landslide.
Starmer says he will remain caretaker prime minister until the party chooses a new Labour leader — with expectations that it will be former Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham. Burnham, who won a special parliamentary election last week, ran with the aim of challenging Starmer for leadership of the party and the country.
Starmer is the sixth prime minister in a decade to stand outside 10 Downing Street and announce a premature departure. His statement comes the day before Britain marks the 10th anniversary of its vote to leave the European Union, a decision that still roils the country's economy and politics.
