Keir Starmer quits as Labour leader after Mandelson-Epstein fallout

Keir Starmer said on Monday that he is stepping down as leader of Britain’s governing Labour Party, bringing his premiership to an end less than two years after he was elected on a promise to restore stability after years of Conservative turmoil. He will remain caretaker prime minister until Labour chooses a new leader in the coming weeks.

Starmer’s exit follows months of pressure over policy reversals, internal party unrest and, finally, the fallout from his decision to appoint Peter Mandelson as the UK’s ambassador to the US. The appointment drew intense criticism after revelations about Mandelson’s ties to Jeffrey Epstein, a man Starmer had never met and in whose sexual crimes he was not complicit.

In an emotional statement, Starmer said: “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.”

Rob Ford, a political science professor at the University of Manchester, said Starmer’s main appeal had been “no more soap opera politics”. Instead, Ford said, his government was “the antithesis of what he said he was going to be about, and it’s very hard to survive that”.

A heavy defeat for Labour in local and regional elections on May 7 proved to be the final blow. It set off a wave of resignations and leadership moves that now appear likely to take former Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham to 10 Downing Street.

The collapse marks a sharp fall from July 4, 2024, when Starmer returned the centre-left Labour Party to power after 14 years by winning 411 of the 650 seats in the House of Commons. Standing outside 10 Downing Street the next day, he had promised to restore “respect to politics” and lead a government of “public service”. After the scandals and rapid turnover of Conservative prime ministers, including Boris Johnson and Liz Truss, Starmer had pledged to lower the temperature and make politics less dramatic.

But Labour’s win rested on a broad yet shallow base. Despite its large parliamentary majority, the party had the backing of only 34 per cent of voters, many of whom appeared to be voting against the Conservatives rather than for Labour. The limited enthusiasm was then worsened by a series of mistakes, including an early row over free gifts such as designer spectacles and Taylor Swift concert tickets, followed by policy U-turns and clumsy attempts to cut welfare spending that angered Labour MPs.

The decision that ultimately cost Starmer his job was choosing Mandelson for the Washington posting. Mandelson was seen as someone who could help Britain deal with US President Donald Trump’s second term. His trade experience and comfort among the very wealthy were viewed as strengths, and he helped secure a trade deal that spared Britain some of the tariffs Trump imposed on countries around the world.

That calculation changed when documents emerged in September 2025 showing how close Mandelson’s ties to Epstein had been. Mandelson, who had called himself Epstein’s “best pal” in 2003, was sacked by Starmer after the first set of emails showed he had remained friendly with Epstein after the financier’s 2008 conviction for sex offences involving a minor. Further disclosures in the following months pushed Starmer’s leadership deeper into crisis.

Emails made public in January 2026 suggested Mandelson had also passed sensitive, and potentially market-moving, government information to Epstein in 2009, when he was a Labour Cabinet minister. Mandelson has been arrested and questioned by police on suspicion of misconduct in public office, but he has not been charged and does not face any allegation of sexual misconduct. The crisis deepened further when it emerged that he had been appointed despite failing security checks for the ambassador’s role. Starmer apologised for the appointment and said he had not known about the failed vetting, but that explanation found little support.

In the House of Commons on April 28, Labour lawmaker Emma Lewell said she felt “let down, disappointed and angry”, and called Mandelson’s appointment “a fundamental failure of judgment”. For many Labour MPs, especially those holding narrow majorities, the Mandelson-Epstein affair confirmed concerns about Starmer’s judgment as Labour’s poll ratings and his personal approval sank.

Ford said Starmer lacked the “political radar” to spot such dangers, in part because he entered politics in his 50s after a successful legal career. That career ended with him serving as chief prosecutor for England and Wales, handling cases involving terrorism, organised crime and other serious offences. He was knighted for leading the Crown Prosecution Service, and opponents often used his title, Sir Keir Starmer, to portray him as an out-of-touch “lefty London lawyer”, even though he came from modest roots.

The son of a toolmaker, Starmer often referred to his background in speeches. He is a football fan who still plays at 63 and supports Arsenal. He and his wife Victoria, who works in occupational health, have two teenage children whom they have tried to keep out of public view.

First elected to Parliament in 2015, Starmer became Labour leader five years later after the party’s worst election result since 1935. He moved Labour back towards the political centre after succeeding Jeremy Corbyn, dropped some of the party’s more left-wing positions and apologised for antisemitism that an internal inquiry said had been allowed to spread under Corbyn.

As opposition leader, Starmer was known for his sharp, lawyerly performances in Parliament against three Conservative prime ministers. He was particularly severe in his attacks on Boris Johnson over parties held in Downing Street during the COVID-19 pandemic in breach of lockdown rules. But the skills that worked in opposition were less effective in government, where he often appeared short of the flexibility and instincts needed in domestic politics.

He seemed more at ease on the world stage, including in rallying European backing for Ukraine in its war with Russia and in trying to limit the economic and political fallout from the US-Israeli war on Iran. That conflict, however, opened a rift with Trump, with whom Starmer had initially built a cordial relationship despite deep political differences. In January, Trump had said: “He’s liberal, which is a bit different from me, but I think he’s a very good person and I think he’s done a very good job thus far.”

Starmer was at first reluctant to criticise Trump publicly, but he took a firmer line after the US president’s threats to take over Greenland. His criticism sharpened after the Iran war began, and by March Trump was dismissing him as “not Winston Churchill” and mocking the Royal Navy. Starmer’s choice to keep Britain largely out of the war matched public opinion, but it did not improve Labour’s standing.

After Labour’s poor showing in May’s local and regional elections, the party moved quickly. A Labour MP in Greater Manchester resigned so Burnham could contest a Commons seat. He won comfortably and described the moment as a “turning point” for British politics. Days later, Starmer confirmed that he would step down, ending a premiership that began with a promise of steady government and closed with a party revolt over his judgment.

With PTI Inputs

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