Sir Keir Starmer quits as Prime Minister as Andy Burnham prepares to take No 10

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The front pages of Britain’s national newspapers on Monday are dominated by one story: the dramatic downfall of Sir Keir Starmer and the imminent coronation of Andy Burnham as the country’s next prime minister. After less than two years in office, Starmer is expected to announce his resignation today, clearing the way for the former Greater Manchester mayor to take over without a formal leadership contest.

The Guardian reports that Starmer will announce a timetable for his departure this morning, with he and his aides having worked since Saturday on his resignation speech, which he will deliver outside Downing Street. The paper says cabinet ministers expect Starmer to set out his intentions, starting a process that will end with Britain installing its seventh prime minister in a decade.

The Mirror declares it’s “game over” for Sir Keir on its front page. The paper reports that the prime minister is expected to set out an exit timetable after Burnham swept back to Westminster with his by-election victory last week.

The Daily Telegraph reports that Burnham plans to become prime minister by September, with both Starmer and his political rival “said to favour a delay over the summer to allow an orderly handover of the keys to No 10”. The paper also notes that France has banned alcohol at festivals across the country amid temperatures of up to 41C during a record heatwave.

The Times reports that Burnham is seeking a “coronation” as he hopes to become Britain’s next prime minister in time for the Labour Party conference. Burnham, who will be sworn in as the Labour MP for Makerfield on Monday afternoon, wants to use the party’s conference at the end of September as a springboard.

The Sun references US President Donald Trump’s intervention in its headline: “Don and dusted”. It reports that Starmer will announce his departure plans as early as Monday “after concluding with allies and wife Victoria that he has no realistic chance of political survival”. Trump has weighed into the drama at No 10, with The Independent reporting that the US president said in a social media post that the prime minister “will resign”. “I wish him well,” Trump is quoted as saying.

The Daily Mail describes Starmer as a “dead man walking”. The paper reports that Burnham is being urged to tear up Labour’s tax pledges to fund his spending plans, including manifesto promises not to raise income tax, National Insurance or VAT. One Cabinet source told the Daily Mail: “The game is up”, while a minister described Sir Keir as a “dead man walking” and said he was ready to quit if the PM tried to cling on. Another previously loyal minister told the paper: “It’s up to the Cabinet to act now. I don’t think he can survive a very significant chunk of his Cabinet resigning”.

The Daily Express reports that with Starmer “poised to quit”, senior Tory Sir Mel Stride warns that Burnham will unleash “reckless” tax hikes and welfare spending if he becomes prime minister. The paper also marks the Prince of Wales’ 44th birthday and Father’s Day with a picture of the prince and his daughter Princess Charlotte with the caption “best papa in the world”.

The Financial Times reports that Starmer’s allies say he is on the brink of resigning, paving the way for Burnham to become Britain’s seventh leader in a decade since Brexit. It says the prime minister is expected to agree to an “orderly” transition amid a “growing cabinet revolt”.

The i Paper reports that allies of leadership rival Burnham will tell Starmer to go if he has not set out a timetable for his departure by Monday night. It says Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper is among those who have urged Starmer to lay out an exit timetable.

The Sunday Times had earlier reported that Starmer plans to “water down” the UK’s electric vehicles sales targets, describing it as a “blow” to Energy Secretary Ed Miliband’s net-zero agenda. The paper reported that the mandate requiring 80% of new car sales by 2030 to be all-electric models will be reduced to 50%.

Writing in The Independent, former Conservative MP Lord Michael Heseltine says that the “scandalously false prospectus” promised by leading proponents of Brexit has “turned to dust and ashes”. The front page features photos of Boris Johnson, Michael Gove and Nigel Farage, all of whom, Lord Michael continues, should “hang their heads in shame”.

The Observer mourns David Hockney, “our English Picasso”, on its front page. The lauded British artist died on Thursday, aged 88.

The Daily Star leads with “We was robbed!” reporting that the England World Cup squad had their boots and training gear stolen in a “huge heist”. The Sunday People leads with the same headline but also features a photo of the Princess of Wales at Trooping the Colour. The Sun on Sunday reports that two people have been arrested in connection with the theft of the England kit.

The Sunday Telegraph reports that the new Defence Secretary, Dan Jarvis, says the government must “meet the moment” on defence spending. Jarvis said he was determined to get the military “precisely what they need”, after his predecessor John Healey resigned following a spending row.

In The Sunday Mirror, Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham writes that successive governments have turned “a deaf ear to the things that matter most to us”. Speaking about his effort to return to Westminster in the forthcoming Makerfield by-election, he says: “If I’m given the opportunity, I’ll make sure they hear us loud and clear”.

The Daily Mail reports that activists campaigning for Rupert Lowe’s Restore Britain party campaigned at a summit of white supremacists. A Restore Britain spokesperson described the revelations as “totally irrelevant” and a “hit piece”.

The Belfast Telegraph leads with the SDLP warning that Stormont deadlock over the budget could see public spending in Northern Ireland slashed by almost £1 billion.

Away from politics, The Daily Star’s front page focuses on the World Cup in the US. John Ratzenberger, who played Cliff Clavin in the Boston-based sitcom Cheers, is welcoming England to the US city and tips them to win the tournament. England will play against Ghana in Boston on Tuesday.

The Sunday Express reports that more than 100,000 failed asylum seekers are still living in the UK because they have not yet been deported. The paper adds that at least a quarter of these – more than 26,000 people – have been in the country for at least a decade despite losing their cases.

The Irish Times leads with Starmer being set to outline his exit plan at Downing Street, the Children’s Ombudsman warning that Tusla is underfunded, and the GPO hosting community events pending a “national conversation” on its future.

The Irish Examiner leads with TDs saying that Micheál Martin should quit as the leader of Fianna Fáil, there being 2,373 assaults on healthcare workers in 2026 so far, and Starmer considering his future as British Prime Minister.

The Irish Daily Mirror and Irish Daily Star lead with the death of 15-year-old Tadhg Callaghan Carter, a spectator who died at the Donegal International Rally over the weekend.

The Echo leads with Cork hurlers’ win over Offaly and Cork’s Sexual Health Centre seeing a 61 per cent jump in demand for its counselling services since 2023.

The Irish Independent leads with buyers shunning doer-uppers amid high renovation costs.

The Herald leads with a bail hearing being told on Friday that a father and two sons arrested over a machete attack in which a 14-year-old was repeatedly slashed as she shielded her infant nephew are facing multiple life sentences if convicted.

The Irish Daily Mail leads with workers being able to earn up to €1,000 a week before paying the 40 per cent top rate of tax under new plans.

Meanwhile, the Financial Times reports that building materials group CRH is nearing its biggest-ever deal to buy competitor Arcosa, in an acquisition that would be the Irish company’s largest-ever takeover. Oil prices fell on June 22 on optimism over US-Iran peace talks, with mediators flagging a “roadmap” to a final agreement, while most equities rose thanks to another healthy start for tech firms.

As the political drama unfolds, BBC Breakfast anchor Jon Kay abandoned the studio this morning and headed down to wait outside Downing Street – likely for Starmer’s impending resignation. A Government minister close to Starmer today appeared to confirm he is resigning, with Jacqui Smith saying she “would have been happy for him to” continue.

Burnham could become Prime Minister as early as July, with tributes being paid to Starmer throughout Monday after his decision to step down from No 10. The prospect of a coronation for Labour’s next leader is controversial, with some suggesting that Burnham would be taking power without an electoral test of his policy platform. Many in Labour anticipate a “coronation”, rather than a leadership contest, with the “King of the North” Andy Burnham the only candidate. Wes Streeting has declared he will not seek the top job, throwing his weight behind Burnham in the wake of the PM’s resignation.

In his resignation statement outside 10 Downing Street, Starmer said: “Every decision I’ve taken has been about putting the country I love first”. He told the nation that his party had asked “whether I am best placed to lead us into the next general election”.

The political earthquake marks a remarkable reversal from the landslide election victory Starmer secured in 2024, which returned Labour to power after 14 years out of office.