Fragmented Britain: Seventh Prime Minister in a Decade
Photograph Source: Sergeant Tom Robinson RLC/MOD – OGL v1.0
Just two years after the July 4, 2024, general election, in which Kier Starmer led the Labour Party to a landslide victory, his party has forced him out as prime minister. Andy Burnham has succeeded him, becoming the seventh prime minister of the United Kingdom in a decade – an unprecedented frequency of change of government in modern Britain. Under Starmer, Labour ended 14 years of Conservative Party rule, during which the Conservatives had five different prime ministers and had become associated with instability in domestic politics and foreign relations. The events surrounding Starmer’s short tenure in the Prime Minister’s official residence Downing Street and controversies that forced his resignation indicate that Labour may now be on a similar path.
This is particularly striking given that the party won an overwhelming parliamentary majority in 2024, securing 412 of the 650 seats in the House of Commons. A governing party elected with one of the strongest mandates in modern history now appears to be grappling with the same volatility that weakened the Conservatives. Burnham has already created a distinct “Starmer faction” within the Labour parliamentary Party by dismissing a large number of Starmer’s cabinet members, including Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy and Chancellor of the Exchequer (Finance Minister) Rachael Reeves, in one of the most sweeping cabinet reshuffles in recent British political history.
The political system in the United Kingdom has not been the same since the Brexit referendum in June 2016, when the British electorate voted by a narrow margin to leave the European Union. Prime Minister David Cameron had called the referendum in the expectation that voters would reject Brexit, thereby settling the issue once and for all. Instead, the result exposed deep divisions within both the Conservative Party and British society. Cameron became the first political casualty, resigning as prime minister and later as an MP. The referendum had a lasting destabilizing effect on British politics from which the country has yet to recover. Cameron was succeeded by Theresa May, Boris Johnson, Liz Truss, and Rishi Sunak, none of whom remained in office long enough to complete a normal five-year parliamentary term. Each prime minister struggled with political crises, internal party divisions, or economic challenges that ultimately ended their premiership.
Labour’s decisive victory in the 2024 general election was expected to restore political stability, but events since then suggest otherwise. The forces unleashed by Brexit, combined with the rise of populism and growing anti-government and anti-establishment sentiment across many democracies, continue to affect British politics. Britain remains one of the countries most deeply affected by these trends.
The two main British political parties – the Labour Party and the Conservative Party – which have traditionally alternated in government, are deeply divided over a wide range of domestic and foreign policy issues. The Reform Party, led by the right-wing populist Nigel Farage, has evolved through several incarnations since its origins in the campaign for Brexit and now competes with both Labour and Conservatives in opinion polls. The 2016 Brexit referendum fundamentally changed British politics. Voters, having tasted power themselves, are determined to exercise the way they feel they did in the Brexit referendum. And politicians seeking elected office feel compelled to respond to the preferences of the groups most likely to ensure the outcome in their favor. British politics has undergone a fundamental shift, with established patterns of decision-making giving way to more fragmented and volatile politics.
Kier Starmer came to power with great fanfare. After 14 years in office and five prime ministers, the Conservatives had exhausted themselves, and much of the country was ready for change. A former Director of Public Prosecutions for England and Wales, Starmer brought legal gravitas and an outsider’s reputation to Downing Street, despite his proximity to the corridors of power. Yet he soon appeared unable to hold together the broad coalition of views and priorities that a successful leader of a major political party must manage. A London-based lawyer representing a London constituency, he never developed a coherent governing vision that reached beyond Westminster. In the absence of such a platform, Labour’s popularity collapsed, members drifted to the Greens and Liberal Democrats, and many who remained became increasingly disillusioned.
Prime Minister Starmer’s government compounded its political problems with a series of avoidable mistakes. The most damaging was the appointment of Peter Mandelson as Britain’s ambassador to Washington despite longstanding questions about his association with the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. When further evidence of those links emerged, Starmer was forced into the humiliating position of dismissing his own ambassador, reinforcing the impression of a government short in judgment as well as direction. Open rebellion erupted within the parliamentary Labour Party and spread throughout the wider party. As growing numbers of Labour MPs, including members of his own cabinet, concluded that his leadership had become untenable, pressure mounted on him to step aside. Once it became clear that he no longer commanded the confidence of either his parliamentary colleagues or much of his party membership, Starmer had little choice but to accept the inevitable. He announced his resignation, bringing to an abrupt end a premiership that had begun with high expectations but quickly dissolved into disappointment.
The question now is whether Andy Burnham, Britain’s seventh prime minister in a decade, will do better. Burnham faces a formidable task in his new job. As Mayor of Greater Manchester, a directly elected position in one of the largest strategic authorities outside London, Burnham was a popular figure. However, being Prime Minister of the United Kingdom is a colossal responsibility. In a highly complex international environment, he remains untested in foreign affairs and diplomacy, and whether he succeeds remains to be seen. On the domestic front, he has established himself as a “people pleaser.” He has already backtracked on his initial suggestion to increase the income tax-free personal allowance. His immediate announcement to cut VAT on household electricity bills has been dismissed as unfunded by Darren Jones, a minister in Starmer’s cabinet who was fired by Burnham. And he says he wishes to deliver power to every postcode. So far, his promise to reduce the bus fare cap from three to two pounds sterling appears to be his most feasible policy.
As Prime Minister Burnham settles into Downing Street, he will have to watch out for his detractors.
