{"id":48818,"date":"2026-06-23T11:47:33","date_gmt":"2026-06-23T18:47:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/?p=48818"},"modified":"2026-06-23T11:47:34","modified_gmt":"2026-06-23T18:47:34","slug":"good-riddance-keir-starmer-resigns-as-uk-prime-minister","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2026\/06\/23\/good-riddance-keir-starmer-resigns-as-uk-prime-minister\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Good Riddance\u2019: Keir Starmer Resigns as UK Prime Minister"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"'Good<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer gives a speech outside 10 Downing Street announcing his resignation in London, United Kingdom on June 22, 2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00a0(Photo credit should read Wiktor Szymanowicz\/Future Publishing via Getty Images)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cGetting rid of Keir Starmer is not enough. We need to get rid of the politics he represents: corporate greed, anti-migrant rhetoric, and endless war,\u201d said former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Brad Reed<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jun 22, 2026 (CommonDreams.org)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced his resignation<\/a> on Monday, less than two years after his Labour party<\/a> swept into power in a landslide election.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In his resignation speech<\/a>, Starmer said that he was stepping down because members of his party did not feel he was the best choice to lead them into the next general election, with polls showing<\/a> the far-right anti-immigration Reform party currently on track to receive the most votes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Starmer also said that whomever is chosen as his successor \u201cwill inherit a Britain that is far stronger and fairer than the one I inherited two years ago, better prepared for the challenges ahead and better able to ensure the Labour party secures a second term in office.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Starmer\u2019s progressive critics disputed this characterization of his governance, which they said has done little more than legitimize the far right.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Specifically, critics pointed to the Labour government\u2019s continued support of Israel in its genocidal assault on Gaza<\/a>, its decision to proscribe<\/a> Palestine<\/a> Action as a terrorist group, and its efforts to court far-right voters by restricting immigration<\/a> as some of its most destructive actions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn<\/a> said<\/a> that Starmer had wasted the large majority that Labour had won and had done little if anything to improve the lives of the UK working class<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cKeir Starmer could have ended child poverty<\/a>, homelessness<\/a> and the grotesque levels of inequality<\/a> in this country,\u201d Corbyn wrote. \u201cInstead, he abandoned those in need, destroyed our civil liberties<\/a>, and facilitated genocide<\/a> in Gaza<\/a>. That is how this prime minister will be remembered\u2014and that is the legacy of moral and political bankruptcy he leaves behind.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Corbyn added<\/a> that \u201cgetting rid of Keir Starmer is not enough,\u201d as \u201cwe need to get rid of the politics he represents: corporate greed<\/a>, anti-migrant rhetoric, and endless war.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Member of Parliament Zarah Sultana, a former Labour MP who has since joined Corbyn\u2019s Your party, noted after watching the prime minister\u2019s speech that \u201cthe most emotion Keir Starmer has shown is over losing his job, not enabling the genocide of the Palestinian people.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cGood riddance,\u201d Sultana said<\/a>. \u201cHis next stop should be The Hague.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/a>Zack Polanski, leader of the Green party<\/a>, predicted<\/a> that Starmer\u2019s premiership would be remembered entirely negatively.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBills up. Wages too low,\u201d Polanski wrote, summarizing life in the UK under Starmer\u2019s leadership. \u201cRecord profits for oil<\/a> and gas. Fifty richest families with more wealth than 50% of population. Shit in our rivers. Pensioners jailed for protesting. Migrants<\/a> thrown under the bus. Supporting a genocide. That\u2019s Starmer\u2019s legacy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Journalist Owen Jones delivered a similarly scathing assessment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cKeir Starmer lied through his teeth to become Labour leader,\u201d Jones wrote<\/a>. \u201cHe justified Israeli war crimes<\/a>, arrested opponents of genocide, attacked pensioners, disabled people, and migrants, pocketed freebies, crushed dissent, and threw others under the bus to save himself. History damns him.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/a>Economist Yanis Varoufakis<\/a> delivered<\/a> a lengthy rundown of Starmer\u2019s failures as prime minister, arguing he \u201cwas not merely a disappointment\u201d but \u201ca mendacious figure of ethical decrepitude, a man who won the Labour party leadership based on promises that he jettisoned five seconds after winning.\u201d
<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHistory will remember Mr. Starmer as a man without conviction,\u201d Varoufakis wrote, \u201ca prime minister who offers not a shred of honesty, but merely the cruel illusion of change. He is ethically decrepit because he had chosen, consciously, to abandon principle for power. And for that, history will indict him. Good riddance, I say.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Brad Reed<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Brad Reed is a staff writer for Common Dreams.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Full Bio ><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer gives a speech outside 10 Downing Street announcing his resignation in London, United Kingdom on June 22, 2026. \u00a0(Photo credit should read Wiktor Szymanowicz\/Future Publishing via Getty Images) \u201cGetting rid of Keir Starmer is not enough. We need to get rid of the politics… Continue reading → <\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1880],"tags":[2081,2082],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48818"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=48818"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48818\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":48819,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48818\/revisions\/48819"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48818"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=48818"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=48818"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}