ON the steps of 10 Downing Street, Sir Keir Starmer announced on Monday he would be stepping down as Prime Minister and leader of the Labour Party.

This comes less than two years after he came to power.

In an emotional speech Sir Keir said it was his love of this country and an acceptance that his party no longer has faith he is the best candidate to take them into the next general election that led to the decision.

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

Response has been varied across Cornwall, with some saying ‘history will be kinder’ when remembering Sir Keir’s time in charge, while others have condemned the instability his time has caused.

Jayne Kirkham, Labour MP for Truro and Falmouth, commended Sir Keir on the “long list of achievements” he made as Prime Minister.

She added: “The Keir Starmer I know is a decent and honourable person who cares deeply about this country and the people in it.

“In the first four of his six years running the Labour Party he stabilised and turned around our party, made it fit to govern and won an election. In the last two years he has stabilised and turned around the direction of the country.”

MP for St Austell and Newquay, Noah Law, agreed: “He has changed the country, and Cornwall, for the better since the General Election two years ago. I believe history will look more kindly on our Prime Minister.”

Perran Moon, Labour MP for Camborne and Redruth, said he had been "saddened" colleagues had decided to "depose" Sir Keir. He said the Labour Party was “on its knees, wracked by antisemitic racism”, when Sir Keir took over in 2019, and it was only thanks to his input that Cornwall had been able to benefit from the new Kernow Industrial Growth fund.

On the flip side, the leader of Cornwall Council Cllr Leigh Frost (Lib Dem) lamented that Cornwall and the UK was once again in a period of limbo whilst a new Prime Minister was selected. He said: “Sad to see another Prime Minister go, regardless of whether I agreed with everything they did or not.

“Seven prime ministers in a decade is not a good statistic, the country needs stability more than ever, and the merry-go-round cannot continue.”

The Liberal Democrat MP for North Cornwall Ben Maguire said it felt like ‘complete madness’ to be discussing the seventh change in Prime Minister in ten years.

“After over a decade of complete Tory instability, we’re now very sadly getting more of the same from Labour, and as an MP it does genuinely frustrate me to see it first hand in Westminster: more infighting within the parties, rather than actually delivering for British people.”

While Andrew George, Liberal Democrat MP for St Ives, warned whoever takes on the role next will have a ‘brief honeymoon’ in which to prove themselves.

“I believe he deserved to be treated better by his fellow parliamentarians, and believe history will be kinder to him than they have been,” he said. “Whoever takes over will have to use their brief honeymoon well.”

The next step will be for the National Executive Committee of the Labour Party to set out a timetable, with nominations opening on July 9 to be completed by the summer recess.

Sir Keir will stay on as UK Prime Minister until his successor is in place.