The Labour leader says he will remain prime minister until his successor is chosen.

Sir Keir Starmer has announced his resignation as Labour leader, heralding the end of his time in 10 Downing Street. He has said he will stay on as UK prime minister until his successor is in place. Pressure on the Labour leader had been building for a while, amid dire approval ratings for the party generally and him personally. His premiership was further destabilised earlier this year, after the release of documents by the US Department of Justice reignited a scandal over his decision to make Peter Mandelson his US ambassador. A damaging by-election defeat in February, where Labour lost a formerly safe seat to the Greens after Sir Keir blocked the then Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham from standing, turned a series of local and national elections in May into a litmus test of his leadership. The results of those May elections were devastating, even worse than many in the party feared, prompting Wes Streeting to resign as health secretary as well as a clutch of more junior ministers. Sir Keir fought on, but his authority ebbed further when a long-simmering row behind the scenes over defence spending prompted Labour stalwart John Healey to resign as defence secretary earlier this month. Andy Burnham's decisive victory at the Makerfield by-election last week, where he successfully held off a challenge from Reform UK, cleared a path for him to return to Westminster and launch a formal leadership bid.