KEIR Starmer’s resignation makes him the “sixth UK Prime Minister to resign in a decade of Westminster chaos”, the SNP have said.
The party has stopped short of calling for a General Election but said that the Prime Minister’s departure underlined how “Scotland needs independence to secure a fresh start from the constant chaos of Westminster control and to build a better future”.
Speaking from Downing Street on Monday morning, Starmer accepted that he no longer had the confidence of Parliament and said he would step aside.
He said: “The question my party is asking now is whether I am best placed to lead us into the next General Election. I have heard the answer of my parliamentary party to that question, and I accept that answer with good grace.
“Every decision I have taken has been about putting the country I love first. That is why I will resign as leader of the Labour Party.”
As he spoke, Andy Burnham was making his way from Manchester to London to be sworn in as the new MP for Makerfield after his by-election win last week which opened the door for him to challenge the Prime Minister for the top job.
He would be the clear favourite to win any leadership contest but is reportedly in favour of a coronation.
But he is already facing criticism for his flip-flopping on a number of issues and is facing questions about “which version of Andy Burnham might show up in Downing Street”.
SNP Westminster leader Dave Doogan said: “Keir Starmer is now the sixth UK Prime Minister to resign in a decade of Westminster chaos, which has seen the UK government engulfed in a never-ending cycle of crisis and failure.
"Westminster's record of instability is damaging Scotland's interests. For years, Scotland has been hammered by Westminster austerity cuts, Brexit and damaging decisions that have wiped billions of pounds from our economy and sent the cost of living soaring.
"There is no sign any of that will change under Keir Starmer's likely-successor, Andy Burnham, who has already made more U-turns than a learner-driver in a cul-de-sac – and has admitted he would continue the most damaging Westminster policies from Brexit to austerity cuts.
"Shuffling the deck chairs at Westminster will not deliver the change that Scotland needs – that can only come with independence."
Green Party leader Zack Polanski said Starmer had run aground “because of his abject failure to challenge the power and wealth of an establishment which has taken for themselves while leaving the vast majority in a cost of living crisis and facing the worst impacts of the climate and nature crisis”.
He added: “The vested interests that are holding this country back need to be confronted, with wealth taxes on the super-rich, utilities taken into public ownership, rent controls and affordable housing, and an end to support for Israel’s genocide in Gaza.
“We are still waiting to see which version of Andy Burnham might going to show up in Downing Street.
“While he has talked about a change of course, the early indications are not encouraging and suggest more of the same with better communication skills.
“The time for half measures and sticking plasters is long gone – if he becomes the next PM, Burnham must be bold or he will be bust.”
LibDem leader Ed Davey said that Starmer’s replacement must change “our broken politics”.
He added: “The British people are sick of being let down by an endless merry-go-round of Prime Ministers while nothing really changes for them.”
Reform UK have said that there must be a General Election. Party leader Nigel Farage said: “Reform demands an election, and we are ready to deliver radical change.
“If Labour thinks it can shove another professional politician into No 10, it has another thing coming.”
