Starmer resigns as PM. Putney’s MP was already backing his replacement

Keir Starmer has resigned as Prime Minister this morning, tearing up as he closed a speech about going home to his wife and children.

He listed what he said his government had achieved in two years: NHS waiting lists at their fastest fall in 17 years, half a million children lifted out of poverty, the biggest workers’ rights improvements in a generation, defence spending at its highest since the Cold War. “Change promised by a Labour government,” he said. “Change fought for by a Labour government. Change delivered by a Labour government.”

Then came the concession: “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.”

He will stay on as Prime Minister until a Labour leadership contest is complete. The party’s National Executive Committee (Labour’s ruling body) will open nominations on 9 July. If only one candidate stands, he could leave in July. If there is a contest, a new Prime Minister is expected before Parliament returns in September.

Andy Burnham won the Makerfield by-election last Wednesday with 54.8% of the vote, returning to Parliament for the first time since leaving as MP for Leigh in 2017 to become Greater Manchester Mayor. His win is widely seen as the event that settled the timing of Starmer’s departure, and he is expected to take over as leader of the Labour Party and so as prime minister.

Outside Downing Street as the speech ended, a protester played Ode to Joy, the EU’s official anthem, which has been used as a symbol of anti-Brexit protest in Britain since the 2016 referendum. The same protestor had played Things Can Only Get Better – a Labour campaign song – as Rishi Sunak left office and put the Conservatives into opposition.

Putney’s MP had spent the days before backing Burnham

Fleur Anderson, who has represented Putney since 2019 and backed Starmer in the 2020 Labour leadership election, received a junior minister post when Labour came to power in July 2024. She was removed from that role in the September 2025 reshuffle following Angela Rayner’s resignation. In her time in Parliament, she has never voted against the Labour whip: 362 votes, zero rebellions.

Four days ago, she was in Makerfield. On 18 June, she posted four photographs on Twitter showing herself canvassing door-to-door, holding a “We’re All With Andy Tomorrow” poster outside a house with a Vote Andy sign, and signing a wall at Burnham’s campaign headquarters covered in Labour MPs’ names.

The word “back” in one post confirmed she had visited more than once. On 20 June, two days before the resignation, she posted a personal photograph with Burnham, his arm around her shoulder at what appeared to be the campaign HQ, captioned: “Congratulations Andy! See you in Parliament next week.”

The signatures wall is significant: it was an organised show of parliamentary support, not a casual drop-in. While canvassing, Anderson told a journalist she expected Burnham to revisit the government’s immigration policies if he became leader.

We have asked Anderson for her thoughts on today’s news and will update this story with any response.

Starmer visited the constituency once during his premiership: St Mary’s Church on Putney High Street, on 16 February 2026, to announce online safety measures. He had not been back.