British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has announced he will step down as leader of the Labour Party after concluding that his party no longer sees him as the best person to lead it into the next general election.

In an emotional statement delivered outside No. 10 Downing Street on Monday morning, Starmer said the central question confronting Labour had been whether he remained the right person to take the party into its next electoral battle.

“I have heard the answer,” he said. “And I accept that answer with good grace.”

Starmer said every decision he had made as Labour leader and prime minister had been driven by a commitment to “putting the country I love first.”

“I will resign as leader of the Labour Party,” he declared.

Reflecting on his tenure, Starmer said he inherited a party that was “politically, financially and morally bankrupt” and recalled being told repeatedly that Labour was “finished.”

He argued that his leadership had transformed the party and restored its credibility.

“We proved those people wrong,” he said, pointing to efforts to rebuild public confidence by “ripping out the poison of anti-Semitism” and “restoring trust in the economy, defence and national security.”

Starmer, accompanied by his wife as he exited No. 10 to cheers and applause, described entering Downing Street two years ago as “the proudest moment of my life.”

He said he entered politics because he wanted the opportunity to improve the lives of millions of people and recounted the path that culminated in Labour’s return to power in July 2024.

The outgoing leader revealed that he had informed King Charles III of his decision earlier in the day.

Starmer said he had asked Labour’s National Executive Committee to begin the process of selecting his successor, with nominations opening on 9 July and the contest expected to conclude before Parliament’s summer recess.

The timetable is designed to ensure a new Labour leader is in place before Parliament reconvenes in September.

Until then, Starmer said, he will remain in office as prime minister, overseeing the transition while the governing party chooses its next leader.