更新于：2026年6月22日 / 美国东部时间上午6:23 / 哥伦比亚广播公司新闻（CBS News）
作者
塔克·里尔 编辑
塔克·里尔是CBSNews.com的国际编辑，驻哥伦比亚广播公司新闻伦敦分社。他自2006年起为哥伦比亚广播公司新闻工作，此前曾在华盛顿特区和伦敦为美联社工作。
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伦敦讯 ——英国首相基尔·斯塔默周一宣布，他将辞去执政党工党领袖职务，这也意味着他将不再担任英国首相。
几周来，斯塔默一直面临越来越大的辞职压力，原因是他所在的政党在5月初的地方选举中遭遇惨败，但他的决定是在工党内部的政治对手、前曼彻斯特市长安迪·伯纳姆明确表示将挑战首相职位之后作出的。
斯塔默此前曾誓言留任，但随着越来越多的工党同僚认为他的任期已到，他的职位变得难以维持。伯纳姆辞去市长职务，并于上周赢得了其所在选区的议会席位，这加速了他的离职时间表——长期以来，首相一直是从现任下议院议员中选出的，因此这一步是必要的。
英国首相基尔·斯塔默在2026年6月16日法国埃维昂莱班举行的七国集团（G7）峰会间隙，等待瑞士联邦主席居伊·帕默兰时的画面。伊莎贝尔·因方特斯/ pooled / 盖蒂图片社
这标志着斯塔默动荡的任期宣告结束，距离他领导的工党在全国大选中以压倒性胜利上台还不到两年，距离选民在地方选举中明确表达对他处理国家事务的不满也不到两个月。
在伦敦唐宁街10号首相官邸外发表的声明中，斯塔默赞扬了自己任职期间的成就，随后补充道：
“我的政党现在正在问的问题是，我是否最适合带领我们参加下一次大选。我已经听到了答案……我欣然接受这个结果。我做出的每一个决定，都是为了把我深爱的国家放在首位。”
“我将辞去工党领袖一职，”他说。
如果工党决定在不进行党内竞选的情况下团结一致推举下一任领导人，斯塔默可能会在7月前卸任首相。如果举行党内竞选，新领导人将在议员们暑假结束后于9月返回议会时敲定。
斯塔默表示，他将向继任者“提供全力且明确的支持”。
斯塔默在谈到自己的孩子时，一度哽咽，他称孩子们是自己“的骄傲和喜悦”。
他表示，在辞去“英国最重要的公职”后，他将把时间花在“最重要的工作上……做我能做的最好的丈夫，献给我出色的妻子维克，她始终如一地陪伴在我身边，陪我度过顺境与逆境”。
周日，特朗普总统在其Truth Social平台上发帖称，斯塔默“在两个非常重要的议题上表现糟糕——移民和能源（开放北海石油！）。祝他一切顺利！”
安迪·伯纳姆的崛起
外界普遍预计斯塔默的继任者将是前曼彻斯特市长安迪·伯纳姆，他上周在地方选举中获胜，重返议会成为下议院议员。虽然法律并未明确要求，但几十年来，英国首相一直从现任议员中选出。
伯纳姆周一不出所料地宣布，他将参选党魁一职，进而成为新首相，并表示这一过程应“以有序且负责任的方式进行”。
伯纳姆和斯塔默此前在一些问题上存在分歧。
前曼彻斯特市长安迪·伯纳姆在2026年6月19日英格兰阿斯顿因马克菲尔德的阿斯顿镇足球俱乐部举行的马克菲尔德补选胜选后发表获奖感言。克里斯托弗·弗隆/盖蒂图片社
如果工党决定举行所谓的“加冕式”推举而非领导权竞选，伯纳姆预计将成为该国下一任领导人，尽管其他工党政客也表示有意参选党魁。
上周赢得议会席位后，伯纳姆在获奖感言中毫不掩饰自己希望领导工党和国家的意愿——这位担任曼彻斯特市长近十年的人士常被称为“北方之王”。
“每个人都知道政治行不通，”伯纳姆说，他曾在2010年和2015年两次参选工党领袖但均未成功。“每个人都能感觉到国家没有处于应有的状态。今晚，或许，仅仅是或许，将成为转折点。”
前卫生大臣韦斯·斯特里廷上周向政客网站Politico表示，他希望举行“一场真正的竞选”来选出下一任党魁，并表示自己将参选，称自己是“不屈不挠的黑马”。但周一，他转而支持伯纳姆，表示将为其竞选党魁提供支持。
“最近几天我与安迪进行了长时间的交谈，我相信在他的领导下，这些理念能够落地，”斯特里廷在社交媒体上分享的一份声明中说道。
“我们可以在整个夏天放大微小的分歧，或者我们可以卷起袖子，帮助他实现我们的政党和国家所需的变革，”他补充道。“这就是我做出的选择。”
英国无需举行大选即可更换领导人的方式
根据英国的政治制度，选民不会直接选举首相。
普通民众选举各自的地方议员，如果一个政党在下议院拥有决定性多数席位——正如工党自2024年上次全国大选以来的情况——该党的领导人通常会就任首相。
只要该党保持多数席位，它就可以通过党内选举（若有多名挑战者）或协商一致的方式更换领导人。
不过，无论采取哪种方式——过去十年间已有六位首相入主唐宁街10号，这种情况发生得相当频繁——新的国家领导人都可能面临要求举行新的全国大选的压力，以证明他们不仅获得了本党的支持，还获得了全国民众的支持。
“我知道有人对我持怀疑态度”
政治历史学家可能会说，早在5月初的地方选举后，斯塔默的败局就已注定——当时工党流失了大量席位。
在英格兰地方议会席位以及威尔士和苏格兰半自治议会的席位选举中，斯塔默领导的工党损失惨重。该党失去了1000个地方议会席位，并丧失了对威尔士议会的牢牢掌控——该议会此前由工党执政了27年。
民粹主义、反移民的改革英国党（Reform UK）是当天的大赢家。该党由特朗普总统的意识形态盟友奈杰尔·法拉奇领导，在英格兰赢得了近1300个地方议会席位，并在苏格兰和威尔士议会中取得了巨大进展。
与美国中期选举类似，此次地方选举被视为对现任政府的一次公投，对工党和斯塔默来说都是一场灾难。这位前政府律师自2024年带领工党取得决定性的全国胜利以来，其支持率大幅下滑。
尽管工党同僚纷纷辞去内阁职务，斯塔默仍数次誓言坚持下去。
“我知道有人对我持怀疑态度，我知道我需要证明他们错了，”几周前他在一次卷起袖子发表的演讲中说道，“我会做到的。”
但这还不够。
工党议员似乎对他的努力并不买账，议员们告诉哥伦比亚广播公司新闻的合作媒体英国广播公司（BBC）新闻，他在5月地方选举后的演讲“让我为首相感到难过”，“实在不合格”，最伤人的评价或许是：“也就那样。”
在近两年的任期内，斯塔默一直难以摆脱“更像管理者而非领导人”的批评。
最后一击可能来自上周，国防大臣约翰·希利——斯塔默的忠实支持者——因反对斯塔默的军费开支计划而辞职。武装部队大臣阿尔·凯恩斯紧随其后辞职。斯塔默任期内共有20名大臣辞职。
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer announces resignation
Updated on: June 22, 2026 / 6:23 AM EDT / CBS News
By
Tucker Reals Editor
Tucker Reals is CBSNews.com’s foreign editor, based in the CBS News London bureau. He has worked for CBS News since 2006, prior to which he worked for The Associated Press in Washington, D.C., and London.
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London — British Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced Monday that he was resigning from his position as the leader of the ruling Labour Party, which will also see him replaced as the country’s leader.
Starmer has been under mounting pressure to resign for weeks, following a disastrous round of local elections for his party in early May, but his decision came after a political rival from within Labour, former Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham, made it clear that he would challenge the prime minister for his job.
Starmer had vowed to stay in his post, but his position became untenable as more and more Labour Party colleagues concluded his time was up. The timetable for his departure sped up after Burnham left his role as mayor and then won a seat last week as a Member of Parliament for his local constituency — a necessary move as prime ministers have long been chosen from among sitting members of the House of Commons.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer looks on as he awaits Switzerland’s Federal President Guy Parmelin on the sidelines of the G7 summit on June 16, 2026 in Evian-les-Bains, France. Isabel Infantes/Pool/Getty
It marks the end of a tumultuous reign for Starmer less than two years after his Labour Party was swept to power in a resounding national election victory— and less than two months after voters made their frustration with his handling of national affairs clear in a round of local elections.
In a statement delivered outside his office and official residence at 10 Downing Street in London, Starmer extolled the virtues of his time in office, then added:
“The question my party is asking now is whether I am best placed to lead us into the next election. I have heard the answer… and I accept that answer with good grace. Every decision I have made has been about putting the country I love first.”
“I will resign as leader of the Labour Party,” he said.
If the Labour Party decides to unite around one person as its next leader, without an internal contest, Starmer could be out of the premiership by July. If there is a leadership contest, the new leader will be decided by the time lawmakers return to parliament in September after their summer break.
Starmer said he would give his successor “my full and unequivocal support.”
Starmer appeared to choke up toward the end of his remarks as he spoke of his children, whom he called his “pride and joy.”
He said that after stepping down from the “biggest job in the country,” he would now spend time on “the most important job … being the best husband I can, to my fantastic wife Vic, who has been a rock by my side through good times and bad.”
On Sunday President Trump posted on his Truth Social platform that Star had “failed badly on two very important subjects- IMMIGRATION AND ENERGY (OPEN NORTH SEA OIL!). I wish him well!”
The rise of Andy Burnham
Starmer’s widely-tipped successor is former Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham, who won a local election last week to return to parliament as a member of the House of Commons. While not required explicitly by law, British prime ministers have been chosen from among sitting members of parliament (MPs) for decades.
Burnham announced Monday, to the surprise of nobody, that he would be putting himself forward for the party leadership, and thus to be the new prime minister, saying the process should be “conducted in an orderly and responsible way.”
Burnham and Starmer have previously disagreed on some issues.
Former Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham speaks as he celebrates his victory in the Makerfield by-election, at Ashton Town Football Club, June 19, 2026, in Ashton in Makerfield, England. Christopher Furlong/Getty
If the party decides to have a so-called “coronation” instead of a leadership contest, Burnham is expected to be the next leader of the country, though other Labour politicians have voiced interest in contesting the leadership.
Giving his acceptance speech after winning his local seat in parliament last week, Burnham — often called the “King of the North” after nearly a decade as the Mayor of Manchester — left no doubt that he hoped to lead the party and the country.
“Everyone knows that politics isn’t working,” said Burnham, who ran unsuccessfully for the Labour Party’s leadership in 2010 and 2015. “Everyone can feel that the country isn’t where it should be. Tonight could, just could, be the turning point.”
Former national health secretary Wes Streeting told Politico last week that he wanted a “genuine contest” to decide the next leader of the party, and he had said he would stand, describing himself as a “plucky underdog.” On Monday, however, he fell in line behind Burnham and said he would support him for the party’s leadership.
“Having spoken at length with Andy in recent days, I’m convinced that there is a place for those ideas under his leadership,” Streeting said in a statement shared on social media.
“We could spend the summer exaggerating small differences, or we can roll up our sleeves and help him to deliver the change our Party and our country needs,” he added. “That is the choice I am making.”
How the U.K. can get a new leader without an election
Under Britain’s political system, voters do not directly elect their prime minister.
The general public elects their local members of parliament, and if one party controls a decisive majority of the seats in the House of Commons, as Labour has since the last national elections in 2024, that party’s leader generally is seated as the prime minister.
As long as the party maintains its majority, it can replace its leader either through an internal party election if there are multiple challengers, or by consensus.
When either action is taken, however — and it has happened much more often, with six prime ministers inhabiting 10 Downing Street over the last decade — the new national leader can quickly come under pressure to call a new national election, to show they have the support of the nation, not just their party.
“I know I have my doubters”
Political historians will likely say the writing was on the wall for Starmer in the wake of the local elections in early May that saw Labour hemorrhage seats.
In votes for local council seats in England, and seats in the semi-autonomous legislatures of Wales and Scotland, Starmer’s Labour Party lost big. It shed 1,000 local council seats and lost its firm grip on the Welsh legislature, which it had controlled for 27 years.
The populist, anti-immigration Reform UK party was the big winner on the day. The party, led by President Trump’s ideological ally Nigel Farage, won nearly 1,300 local council seats in England and made huge gains in both the Scottish and Welsh legislatures.
The local elections were seen, much like the U.S. midterms, as a referendum on the current government, and they were a disaster for both Labour and Starmer, a former government lawyer whose popularity has plummeted since he led his party to a decisive national victory in 2024.
Starmer vowed several times to fight on, even as fellow Labour members resigned from his cabinet.
“I know I have my doubters and I know I need to prove them wrong,” he said in a speech a few weeks ago with shirt sleeves rolled up, “and I will do so.”
But it wasn’t enough.
Labour lawmakers seemed unimpressed by the effort, with parliamentarians telling CBS News’ partner network BBC News that his post local-elections speech in May, “made me feel sorry for the PM,” that it “really didn’t cut the mustard,” and, perhaps most damningly: “Meh.”
Throughout his nearly two years in office Starmer struggled to shrug off criticism that he was more of a manager than a leader.
The final blow may have come last week, when Defence Secretary John Healey — a Starmer loyalist — resigned over Starmer’s military spending plans. Armed forces minister Al Cairns followed soon after. A total of 20 ministers resigned during Starmer’s tenure.