British Prime Minister Keir Starmer says he is stepping down as leader of the governing Labour Party.

Mr. Starmer says he will remain caretaker prime minister until a new Labour leader is chosen in the next few weeks.

Mr. Starmer announced after facing growing pressure to hand over to a new leader who can try to revive the government’s flagging fortunes. He has been in office since leading Labour to a landslide election victory in July 2024. In those two years, his popularity and that of the party have plummeted.

His departure was triggered by the victory of Andy Burnham in a special election last week. The popular ex-mayor of Greater Manchester planned to challenge Mr. Starmer for the Labour leadership.