Keir Starmer ran Downing Street as the man to restore Britain’s reputation for competence and stable government after years of upheaval under the Conservatives.
While the ex-prosecutor largely succeeded in that mission, his wider tasks to change Britain remained undelivered.
The respect for steadying the listing ship of British government was palpable in the plaudits he received as he stepped down as prime minister this week.
Despite being in office for just over two years – out of the UK's 58 prime ministers, only 13 have served shorter terms – Mr Starmer restored competence, stabilised the economy and convinced the markets that politics could provide predictability.
'No' to war
But it was on the foreign stage that he achieved the most, receiving praise in parliament for “not dragging” Britain’s armed forces into US President Donald Trump’s war with Iran.
His support for Ukraine and its embattled leader was resolute, so much so that when President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was thrown out of the White House by Mr Trump in February 2025, Mr Starmer invited him to Downing Street.
On arrival, they hugged as the cheers from the British public resounded down the street. It was the first poke in the eye for the current White House administration and Mr Starmer did not shy away from giving a verbal retort to the episode in Washington. “We don’t let people in Britain walk alone out of the building,” he said.
With France's help, he built the Coalition of the Willing for Ukraine that will station troops in the country when peace returns. The same coalition, joined by Germany and other countries, will also ensure security in the Strait of Hormuz once a deal is reached between the US and Iran.
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Then-shadow Brexit secretary Keir Starmer prepares to address the Fabian Society's 2019 New Year's conference at Friends House in London. PA -
Labour leader Keir Starmer prepares his speech for the party's September 2020 conference, which was streamed to members due to the pandemic. PA -
Keir Starmer shakes hands with defeated candidates Nick the Incredible Flying Brick and Bobby "Elmo" Smith at Camden Council headquarters after retaining his Holborn and St Pancras seat in the July 2024 general election. PA -
Keir Starmer speaks outside 10 Downing Street for the first time as Prime Minister after Labour's landslide election victory in July 2024. PA -
Keir Starmer walks with King Charles III during the European Political Community summit at Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire. PA -
Keir Starmer and actor Ross Kemp phone Labour Party staff to thank them for their campaign efforts during the 2025 council elections. PA -
From left, Keir Starmer with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk after a meeting of the "coalition of the willing" at the Presidential Palace in Kyiv. PA -
Keir Starmer is greeted by Bearspaw First Nation Chief Darcy Dixon at Calgary Airport in Canada, before the G7 leaders' summit in June 2025. PA -
Keir Starmer helps a war veteran at a remembrance service in Staffordshire in August 2025, marking the 80th anniversary of VJ Day. PA -
Keir Starmer and US President Donald Trump watch the British Army's Red Devils parachute display team at Chequers in Buckinghamshire in September 2025. PA -
Keir Starmer with Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy at the 2025 Labour Party conference in Liverpool. PA -
Keir Starmer attends a Diwali ceremony in Mumbai during a visit to India in October 2025. PA -
Keir Starmer announces his resignation as British Prime Minister and leader of the Labour Party on June 22, 2026. Getty Images
Mr Starmer's successor Andy Burnham, who remains an unknown quantity as a leader, will inherit a resurgent relationship with Europe, which has helped reduce illegal English Channel crossings by 40 per cent in the past year.
The warmth felt by French President Emmanuel Macron was reflected in the award of the Legion of Honour, France's highest national order of merit, recognising Mr Starmer’s leadership in strengthening European security.
‘Courteous and decent’
Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch gave a glimpse of her respect for Mr Starmer behind the bluster of attack and counter-attack on the political frontline. “Politics is a rough business but behind the scenes I've always found you courteous and decent,” she told him at the final Prime Minister's Questions in parliament last week.
He replied that although they had had “many robust exchanges” in the chamber, he had always appreciated the civility she had shown him in private, especially on the death of his brother.
It was a mark of the decency that Mr Starmer had restored to British politics, something ever more important given the murder last week of former Conservative minister Ann Widdecombe.
While on this occasion Labour MPs were fulsome in their support, many may regret their actions that led to Mr Starmer’s ousting following rebellions over welfare reforms and a plummet in his approval ratings despite a landslide election victory in 2024.
Given the Conservative Party's past ructions, “changing prime ministers is not a silver bullet”, said Ms Badenoch. “Maybe the Labour Party’s troubles are only just beginning.”
From chaos to gravitas
Mr Starmer inherited a country divided by Brexit, exhausted by the Covid-19 pandemic and still shuddering from Liz Truss’s economic incompetence.
He faced down the idea that Britain had become ungovernable, never promising miracles but lowering the political temperature despite the attempts of Nigel Farage’s far-right Reform party to fire it up.
Mr Starmer's lawyer’s instincts meant he sought to establish order before attempting reform, but he was challenged early on by anti-immigration riots in 2024. However, he managed to largely restore confidence in Britain’s finances, turning politics away from theatre to serious administration.
Low inheritance
He had inherited a divided and demoralised Labour Party in 2020 after it had been trounced in the previous year’s general election under the far-left leadership of Jeremy Corbyn.
He had the unenviable task of stamping out anti-Semitism but pushed through knowing that he had to make Labour acceptable again.
That was done in the presence of Conservative leader Boris Johnson, whose great oratorical dexterity included instinctive showmanship, comic timing and an ability to command attention.
Mr Johnson mocked him relentlessly as “Captain Hindsight”, suggesting that the former prosecutor specialised in criticising decisions only after events had unfolded.
But despite the slurs, Mr Starmer remained steadfast enough to see off three Tory leaders.
The prosecutor
He entered politics late, in 2015, aged 52, following a widely respected legal career that culminated in his becoming Director of Public Prosecutions. He turned the Crown Prosecution Service into a machine that functioned efficiently, overseeing terrorism cases and prosecutions following the 2011 riots and instituting reforms intended to modernise a system often criticised for delay and inconsistency.
Mr Starmer would also regularly single out people by name, whether at party conferences or major speeches, and he did so again in his final House of Commons appearance as the country's leader.
“I can see Sam in the gallery today,” he said. Sam's experience has shown the devastating impact that harmful online content has on young people. Mr Starmer stated that protecting children online – a ban on social media for under-16s is imminent – would remain one of his proudest achievements.
His legacy, which Mr Burnham will appreciate, is a government that prizes competence over conflict, although his critics will suggest his pragmatism often blurred into “incrementalism”.
Rather than inspiring devotion, Mr Starmer ultimately restored gravitas to government. The epitaph he gave himself in parliament will certainly be cemented: “I leave the country in a better shape than I found it.”
As he left the chamber on Wednesday, Labour MPs rose in unison, applauding the departure of the man whose steady, unruffled presence they may one day lament.
