President Donald Trump said on June 21 that embattled British Prime Minister
Keir Starmer will step down. “Keir Starmer will resign as Prime Minister of The
United Kingdom,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post on June 21. “He failed badly
on two very important subjects—immigration and energy (open North Sea oil!). I
wish him well!”
Trump’s post comes on the heels of Britain’s Observer newspaper suggesting that
Starmer was expected to resign on June 22.
The prime minister has faced threats to his position in the past few months, most
recently when rival Andy Burnham won a seat in parliament on June 19, which
could allow him to formally make efforts to oust Starmer as Labour leader and UK
prime minister.
Starmer said on June 19 that he would not “walk away” from his post if Burnham
challenged him. But support for Starmer’s party has dropped in the two years
since he won a landslide election in 2024.
Nearly a quarter of lawmakers in the Labour Party called on him to quit after their
party suffered the most local election losses of any governing party in more than
three decades. The party lost English local elections and parliamentary votes in
Scotland and Wales.
Starmer promised to “deliver change,” but there are growing fears in his party
that the prime minister may not be able to defeat Nigel Farage from the Reform
UK party in a future election.
Farage commented on Trump’s June 21 social media post, which also accused
Starmer of failing on immigration and energy policies.
“The list is longer than that!” Farage said on X.
The leader of Reform UK previously criticized Starmer’s immigration policies;
although, last spring, the prime minister promised to cut net migration to Britain.
Farage has gained support for his strict immigration proposals, which include
banning foreign nationals from living in government-subsidized homes.
“The British people paid for these homes, should be housed in them, and
newcomers will have to be patient as they earn their way in,” Farage wrote in a
Substack on June 14.