Aysu Bicer
22 June 2026•Update: 22 June 2026
The resignation of Keir Starmer as UK prime minister and Labour Party leader is unlikely to bring significant changes to Britain's domestic or foreign policy, according to British people reacting to Monday's announcement.
Starmer said he would step down as Labour Party leader and remain prime minister until a successor is chosen, following pressure within his party after poor local election results.
But some critics argued that a change of leadership would do little to alter the course of government.
Speaking to Anadolu in front of 10 Downing Street, Jim Curran said Starmer's departure was largely irrelevant because of what he described as broader political influences on government policy.
“Starmer has decided to resign today, but it doesn't really matter whether he resigns or not, because he was controlled by the lobby from the Israeli embassy here, and he pursued policies in relation to Palestine and even in relation to Ukraine, where a large number of people were killed and murdered, children in hospitals…
"His government supplied arms to the terrorist apartheid state of Israel to deny the Palestinians the rights in their own nation,” he told Anadolu.
Curran also questioned whether a potential successor, such as Andy Burnham, would represent a break from Starmer's approach.
“Even if Andy Burnham comes along and becomes prime minister, he opposed Jeremy Corbyn in the election campaign, and he went to television at that time and said that if he became prime minister at that time that the first trip he would make was to the terrorists of the apartheid state of Israel,” he underlined.
Others suggested Starmer's problems stemmed less from foreign policy and more from political and economic realities facing his government.
'Don't think any successor will have much better time'
David, who only gave his first name, said Starmer had failed to build the public support needed to deliver his agenda.“It is very unfortunate... but he didn't understand because popularity changes so quickly. I contrast him with Mark Carney in Canada, who had a better idea of how to come in, how to create political space for policy achievements.”
He argued that Starmer had struggled to focus effectively on policy goals. “Keir Starmer isn't focused on policy, and even that, not that effectively.”
Despite the prospect of a new Labour leader in the coming weeks, he said Britain's next prime minister would face many of the same challenges.
“However, I don't think any successor will operate under or will have a much better time, because they'll have very similar economic constraints.”
He added: “Basically, there's no money and there's no growth, and if you can't have those, you can't consider your own policy agenda success. The antibiotic better come into the house to get results to then create political space.”
Starmer announced on Monday that he would resign as Labour leader after members of his parliamentary party questioned whether he remained the best person to lead Labour into the next general election.
He said a new leader could be in place as early as July if there is no contest, or by the end of August if party members are required to vote on competing candidates.
Meanwhile, Burnham has announced he will run for Labour leader, setting up what could become a rapid contest for the party and the UK’s premiership.
