Keir Starmer announced his resignation as prime minister and leader of the Labour Party on Monday morning, stepping outside 10 Downing Street to confirm he would stand down after less than two years in office.
Speaking to cabinet ministers and staff gathered in the street, Starmer said he had "heard the answer" of his parliamentary party on whether he remained best placed to lead it into the next general election, and accepted that answer "with good grace". He said every decision he had taken in office had been about "putting the country I love first."
Starmer told reporters he had spoken to King Charles earlier in the morning to inform him of his decision. He will remain in post as prime minister until a new Labour leader is in place, with nominations opening on 9 July and the contest due to be completed before parliament returns in September.
He thanked his colleagues, Downing Street staff and the civil service before composing himself to speak about his family, saying he looked forward to being "the best husband I can" to his wife Victoria and "the best dad I can" to his children.
Andy Burnham - who won the Makerfield by-election last week and resigned as Greater Manchester mayor to return to Westminster - is the clear frontrunner to succeed Starmer. His majority of more than 9,000 votes over Reform UK, beating expectations from all pre-election polling, accelerated the pressure on Starmer and made his position effectively untenable. His successor will be Britain's seventh prime minister in a decade.
Rachel Reeves, the Chancellor, is widely expected to leave the Treasury as part of the transition. Wes Streeting, who resigned as health secretary last month, has said he will stand if a leadership contest is held.
A Burnham-led government would bring a distinct policy agenda with direct implications for the insurance market - across landlord and property cover, life insurers' gilt portfolios, and the private medical insurance market.
Burnham has publicly backed rent controls, which combined with the Renters' Rights Act already in force since May 2026 will reshape the BTL insurance landscape. His proposed proportional property tax - replacing stamp duty and council tax with an annual levy on current market value - would create an annual revaluation trigger with significant consequences for the underinsurance problem that already affects a majority of UK residential properties. Empty and second homes would face a double rate under his proposals, changing the risk profile of that specialist book.
For life insurers, the gilt market is the immediate watch. The 10-year gilt yield hit 5.137% in May when Burnham's candidacy first emerged - its highest since 2008 - before settling back to 4.84% following the by-election, partly on his pledge to maintain current fiscal rules. With public borrowing already running above OBR forecasts, how that pledge holds once the full cost of his programme becomes clear will be a live question for investment committees this week.
For a full analysis of the four insurance angles in the Burnham policy programme, see: Burnham in. Starmer and Reeves out
.jpg){kind=link}