Welcome back to World Brief, where we’re looking at British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s resignation, Colombia’s presidential election, and Chinese restrictions on U.S. firms.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced his resignation as the leader of the Labour Party on Monday, a move that will eventually result in his replacement as the country’s leader.

Welcome back to World Brief, where we’re looking at British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s resignation, Colombia’s presidential election, and Chinese restrictions on U.S. firms.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced his resignation as the leader of the Labour Party on Monday, a move that will eventually result in his replacement as the country’s leader.

Starmer’s much-anticipated resignation comes after weeks of internal Labour revolt following a paltry showing in local elections in May. “The question my party is asking now is whether I am best placed to lead us into the next general election,” Starmer said in his resignation speech. “I have heard the answer of my parliamentary party to that question, and I accept that answer with good grace.”

Starmer’s two-year rule was marked by “[t]imidity, U-turns, countless relaunches that went nowhere, the communication skills of a funeral director, and endless unnecessary mistakes,” John Kampfner wrote in Foreign Policy. Among these gaffes was Starmer’s decision to appoint Peter Mandelson—who had close ties with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein—as Britain’s ambassador to the United States in 2024.

Starmer’s hand was finally forced this week with the victory of popular Labour politician and former Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham in a parliamentary special election. Burnham’s new MP status would have enabled him to formally challenge the prime minister’s leadership, but Starmer’s resignation renders such a confrontation unnecessary.

Burnham has confirmed that he will put himself forward to become Labour’s next leader, and he seems to have the necessary support among the party’s legislators. (Wes Streeting, considered another serious contender, has fallen in line behind Burnham.) The party will formally begin the election process on July 9.

But can Burnham revive the moribund Labour Party? “He’s not the messiah,”........

© Foreign Policy