Starmer resigns as Prime Minister. Is the UK ungovernable?

That’s two more than Italy – often cited in the UK as an example of what not to do – in the same period.

Equally striking is that of the bottom five – Theresa May, Boris Johnson, Liz Truss, Rishi Sunak and Starmer – only one, Sunak, was voted out by voters in a general election. The others were expelled by their own party.

This gives the impression that a country once known for its political stability is now ungovernable.

However, even if voters are restive and angry, this ungovernability cannot be blamed entirely on them.

As influential pollster Luke Tryl points out, May demonstrated her lack of prime ministerial qualities by calling an unnecessary election in 2017, in which she destroyed a parliamentary majority inherited from David Cameron. Johnson was undone by revelations about his conduct during the Covid lockdowns and trussed by the adverse market reaction to his 2022 mini-budget.

Now Starmer is leaving due to unpopularity, largely self-inflicted, after policy mistakes including scrapping pensioners’ winter fuel allowance, increasing inheritance tax on small farmers and appointing a close friend of the late pedophile Jeffrey Epstein as ambassador to Washington.

The chaos dates back to the defenestration of Margaret Thatcher, considered by many to be Britain’s greatest post-war prime minister, in 1990.

It was the first time in living memory that a sitting Prime Minister had been forced out of office by his own MPs, rather than losing a general election or stepping down of his own accord.

They were rewarded for their regicide when Thatcher’s successor, John Major, unexpectedly won the next election in 1992.

Starmer’s Labor Party has learned its lessons.

Tony Blair, the most successful Prime Minister after Thatcher, was forced to resign in 2007 in favor of his Chancellor (or Finance Minister) Gordon Brown.

Now Starmer is out after his MPs identified an alternative – then Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham – deemed more likely to save their jobs.

Some will say that voters are too short-termist, too easily influenced by the media, and too accepting of politicians who promise European standards of public services and benefits financed by American tax levels.

This has undoubtedly made governance more difficult.

The UK has endured two decades of stagnant productivity and living standards following the global financial crisis, exacerbated by the Brexit vote a decade ago, the pandemic and two energy price shocks.

But poor policy, in areas such as energy and health, has undoubtedly hampered Britain’s ability to recover from these episodes. The same is true in an era of limited public finances, which refuses to make difficult decisions.

Starmer’s attempt to tackle the UK’s welfare bill was thwarted by his own MPs.

Who is Andy Burnham? And 4 other things investors should know about the UK right now
A change in leadership does not automatically translate into a change in the country’s economic situation, strategists warn.

Bank of England keeps interest rates at 3.75% amid Iran peace
The move, which was in line with the expectations of economists polled by Reuters, was supported by seven of the nine members of the monetary policy committee at the BoE’s May meeting.

— Katrina Bishop