Keir Starmer's tenure as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom began on 5 July 2024 when he accepted an invitation from King Charles III to form a government, succeeding Rishi Sunak of the Conservative Party, and concluded upon his resignation on 20 July 2026. As prime minister Starmer also served simultaneously as First Lord of the Treasury, Minister for the Civil Service and Minister for the Union.
Starmer, who had been Leader of the Labour Party since 2020, was appointed prime minister after his party had won a landslide victory at the 2024 general election, ending fourteen years of Conservative governance, becoming the first Labour prime minister since Gordon Brown in 2010 and the first Labour leader to win a general election since Tony Blair in 2005, but with the smallest share of the electoral vote of any majority government since record-keeping of the popular vote began in 1830. Under Starmer's premiership, the government ended certain Winter Fuel Payments for around 10 million people, implemented an early-release scheme for thousands of prisoners to reduce prison overcrowding, settled a number of public-sector strikes and announced the establishment of Great British Energy. He also in order to stop the industry from collapsing announced the nationalisation of Great British Steel. Rachel Reeves introduced the largest tax rises at a budget since March 1993 in her October 2024 budget. Starmer announced the Border Security Command to replace the defunct Rwanda asylum plan and the National Violent Disorder Programme in response to the 2024 riots, as well as reforms to workers' rights. In foreign policy, Starmer supported Ukraine against the Russian invasion and initially supported Israel in the Gaza war, but later called for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and condemned Israel's actions. In September 2025, his government formally recognised the State of Palestine. Starmer responded to the 2026 Iran war by shooting down Iranian drones and missiles over allied countries in the Middle East, but denied a request from US president Donald Trump to use British military bases and criticised opposition leaders Nigel Farage and Kemi Badenoch for their immediate support for the war.
Starmer was viewed unfavourably by the British public during his premiership. Starmer's approval ratings fell to historical lows for a British prime minister, drawing comparisons to Liz Truss. His net approval rating began slightly positive, but fell from +5% after the election to −30% by January 2025 before levelling off until April 2025 when it began to decline further, by November that year. A poll found 35% of the public were satisfied with Starmer's job performance, 65% dissatisfied, giving a net approval rating of minus 30. Starmer's average net approval remained higher than Boris Johnson's during the Partygate scandal, Jeremy Corbyn's when he resigned as Labour leader and when Truss resigned as prime minister. Starmer's unpopularity was tied to poor results for Labour in the 2025 United Kingdom local elections. Likewise, the party garnered poor polling numbers ahead of the 2026 United Kingdom local elections, the 2026 Scottish Parliament election and the 2026 Senedd election, which culminated in a leadership crisis beginning in May 2026. On 22 June 2026, days following Andy Burnham's return to parliament, Starmer announced his resignation as Prime Minister and as leader of the Labour Party, and was succeeded as prime minister by Burnham, who won the leadership election.
Background Labour leadership bid
On 4 January 2020 Keir Starmer announced his candidacy for the Labour Party leadership election. By 8 January it was reported that he had gained enough nominations from Labour members of Parliament (MPs) and members of the European Parliament (MEPs) to get onto the ballot paper, and that the trade union Unison was backing him. Unison, with 1.3 million members, said Starmer was the best-placed candidate to unite the party and regain public trust. He was also supported by the former prime minister Gordon Brown and the mayor of London, Sadiq Khan.
During the leadership election, Starmer stood on a left-wing platform. He positioned himself in opposition to austerity, stating that the outgoing leader, Jeremy Corbyn, was "right" to position Labour as the "party of anti-austerity". He indicated he would continue with the Labour policy of scrapping tuition fees as well as pledging "common ownership" of rail, mail, energy and water companies and called for ending outsourcing in the National Health Service (NHS), local governments and the justice system. Starmer was announced as the winner of the leadership contest on 4 April 2020, defeating his rivals, Rebecca Long-Bailey and Lisa Nandy, with 56.2% of the vote in the first round. As Leader of the Opposition, contrary to his leadership campaign, he moved the party towards the political centre, and also emphasised the project of eliminating antisemitism within the party. In 2023 he set out five missions for his government, targeting issues such as economic growth, health, clean energy, crime and education.
2024 general election
On 22 May 2024, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak unexpectedly announced that a general election would be held on 4 July 2024. Labour entered the general election with a large lead over the Conservative Party in opinion polls, and the potential scale of the party's victory was a topic of discussion during the campaign period. In June 2024 Starmer released the Labour Party's manifesto, Change, which focuses on economic growth, planning system reforms, infrastructure, what Starmer describes as "clean energy", healthcare, education, childcare and strengthening workers' rights. It pledges a new publicly owned energy company (Great British Energy), a "Green Prosperity Plan", reducing patient waiting times in the NHS, and renationalisation of the railway network (Great British Railways). It includes wealth creation and "pro-business and pro-worker" policies. The manifesto also pledged to give votes to 16 year olds, reform the House of Lords, and to tax private schools, with money generated going into improving state education.
In July 2024 Starmer led Labour to a landslide victory in the general election, ending fourteen years of Conservative government with Labour becoming the largest party in the House of Commons. Labour achieved a 174-seat simple majority and a total of 411 seats, the party's third-best result in terms of seat share following the 1997 and 2001 general elections. The party had the most seats in England for the first time since 2005, in Scotland for the first time since 2010, and retained its status as the largest party in Wales.
In his victory speech Starmer thanked party workers for their work – including nearly five years of revamping and rebranding Labour in the face of Conservative dominance – and urged them to savour the moment, but warned them of challenges ahead and pledged his government would work for "national renewal":
Premiership
Appointment as prime minister
As the leader of the majority party in the House of Commons, Starmer was appointed as prime minister by King Charles III on 5 July 2024, becoming the first Labour prime minister since Gordon Brown, the first Labour leader to win a general election since Tony Blair, and the first prime minister to enter office with a knighthood since Alec Douglas-Home. He and his wife, Victoria Starmer, were driven from Buckingham Palace to Downing Street. Starmer stopped the car on the way back from the palace and went on a walkabout outside Downing Street to meet cheering crowds. In his first speech as prime minister, Starmer paid tribute to the previous prime minister Rishi Sunak, saying "His achievement as the first British Asian Prime Minister of our country should not be underestimated by anyone," and also recognised "the dedication and hard work he brought to his leadership" but said that the people of Britain had voted for change:
State Opening of Parliament
The 2024 State Opening of Parliament outlined 39 pieces of legislation that Labour proposed to introduced in the months ahead, including bills to renationalise the railways, to strengthen the rights of workers, tackle illegal immigration, reform the House of Lords and undertake a programme to hasten the delivery of "high quality infrastructure" and housing. In addition, a number of bills proposed by Sunak's Conservative administration were also included, particularly the Tobacco and Vapes Bill, which had appeared in the 2023 King's Speech, but had been abandoned after the election was called.
Bills The Passenger Railway Services (Public Ownership) Bill enabling the government to renationalise the railways. The Railways Bill to establish Great British Railways, a body overseeing the rail network. The Better Buses Bill allowing greater scope for local government to take over the running of bus services. The High Speed Rail (Crewe - Manchester) Bill to enable powers to improve rail services in northern England. The English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill to facilitate the devolvement of power to elected mayors of combined authorities. Reform of the House of Lords. Two separate bills: to phase out the remaining hereditary peers in the House of Lords (House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) Bill), and to increase the number of female bishops in the House (Lords Spiritual (Women) Act 2015 (Extension) Bill). The Budget Responsibility Bill requiring an official budget forecast to take place ahead of a government budget. Given royal assent on 10 September 2024.HL Deb 10 September 2024 vol. 839 col. 1493 The Pension Schemes Bill introducing new rules and requirements for private sector pension schemes. The Planning and Infrastructure Bill to simplify the approval process for critical infrastructure, and update compulsory purchase rules. The Renters' Rights Bill banning no-fault evictions and extending building safety requirements to the private sector. The Leasehold and Commonhold Reform Bill curbing ground rent costs and banning forfeiture. The Great British Energy Bill to establish GB Energy, a state owned energy investment and generation company. The National Wealth Fund Bill establishing a £7.3bn fund to be invested over five years in infrastructure and green industry. The Water (Special Measures) Bill giving the water regulator Ofwat greater powers to prevent water company bosses from receiving bonuses, and to make water company bosses liable for any illegal activity. The Crime and Policing Bill to give police greater powers to deal with antisocial behaviour. The bill will also make assaulting retail workers a specific offence. The Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Bill to require venues to establish procedures for dealing with terrorist threats, enacting Martyn's Law. The Victims, Courts and Public Protection Bill requiring offenders to attend sentencing hearings and removing parental rights from convicted sex offenders. The Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill enabling police to use anti-terrorism laws to tackle gangs who smuggle asylum seekers to the UK. The Employment Rights Bill introducing a number new rights for workers, and banning the "exploitative" use of zero hour contracts. The Equality (Race and Disability) Bill extending the right to make a claim for equal pay under the Equality Act to people from ethnic minorities and people with disabilities. The Tobacco and Vapes Bill to bring in a phased ban on smoking. The Mental Health Bill to tighten rules on sectioning people, and change the rules on care for people with learning difficulties. The Children's Wellbeing Bill requiring local authorities to keep a register of children not in full time education at school, and establish breakfast clubs for all primary schools in England. The Skills England Bill to establish a public body to improve and devolve skills training.