LONDON (AP) — British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said Monday he is stepping down as leader of the governing Labour Party and will leave office within weeks, scarcely two years after being elected in a landslide.

Starmer said he will remain caretaker prime minister until a new Labour leader is chosen by the party.

Starmer made the announcement after facing growing pressure to hand over to a new leader who can try and revive the government’s flagging fortunes.

The moderate leader had taken over from Jeremy Corbyn, a far-left politician whose tenure as head of the party saw repeated antisemitism scandals and ended after a decisive loss in 2019.

Starmer led Labour to a landslide election victory in July 2024, but since then 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 Starmer for the Labour leadership.

Starmer made the announcement outside the prime minister’s 10 Downing Street residence, his voice choking with emotion near the end of the brief statement.

“The question my party is asking now is whether I am best placed to lead us into the next general election,” Starmer said. “I have heard the answer of my parliamentary party to that question, and I accept that answer with good grace.”

In his short remarks, Starmer defended his tenure as leader, saying: “Six years ago, I inherited a Labour party that was politically, financially, and morally bankrupt.”

“I was told time and time again that my party was finished, that we were consigned to history, that a majority at the general election, let alone a landslide majority, was impossible,” the outgoing premier continued.

“But we proved those people wrong because we changed our party, ripping out the poison of antisemitism, restoring trust on the economy, defense, and national security, and........

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