Starmer's popularity has plummeted since his landslide victory in 2024, and he announced on Monday that he will remain as caretaker prime minister until a new Labour leader is chosen.
His resignation follows growing pressure to hand over the reins to a new leader who can revive the government's fortunes.
Dr. Glen Duerr, chair of history and government and professor of international studies at Cedarville University in Ohio, was born and raised in the United Kingdom.
"On the one hand, it's a surprise because he has a five-year term, and yet this is only two years, almost to the day, where he won the election of 2024," Dr. Duerr comments. "A lot of what happened in 2024 was not so much a Labour landslide; it was a conservatives-stayed-at-home because, I think, conservative voters were frustrated with their own party."
Since then, Dr. Duerr says ongoing issues have plagued Starmer
"It's pretty similar to the United States — things like inflation, immigration, and the overall economy — but the big difference is that the United States is performing economically, at least, much, much better than the United Kingdom," he says.
The professor also points out that Starmer's relationship with President Donald Trump has been very poor.
"I think President Trump really gave him a chance, even though Starmer had said some nasty things before he became prime minister, and that relationship just fell out within the last year," Duerr notes, adding, "I think a lot of the British public now see that he doesn't have a good and certifiable plan and he's lost his usefulness."
He believes Starmer resigned because he "saw the writing on the wall."
