Keir Starmer resigns as UK prime minister

**SPEAKER_1** (0:00)
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**Becca** (0:20)
From BBC Learning English, this is Learning English from the News, our podcast about the news headlines.

**Phil** (0:27)
In this programme, British Prime Minister resigns.

**Becca** (0:34)
Hello, I'm Becca.

**Phil** (0:35)
And I'm Phil.

**Becca** (0:36)
In this programme, we look at one big news story and the vocabulary in the headlines that will help you understand it.

**Phil** (0:43)
You can find all the vocabulary and headlines from this episode, as well as a worksheet on our website, bbclearningenglish.com.

**Becca** (0:51)
So, let's hear more about this story.

**Phil** (1:00)
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has resigned. He will remain in power until a successor is chosen by the ruling Labour Party.

**Becca** (1:08)
He won a large election victory in 2024, but his popularity has dropped since then. Many people believe his government have made a number of mistakes.

**Phil** (1:19)
His party lost heavily in recent local elections and some important figures in the Labour Party called on him to resign.

**Becca** (1:27)
Andy Burnham, until recently mayor of Greater Manchester, is expected to become the next Prime Minister.

**Phil** (1:34)
Burnham became a member of Parliament again after winning a by-election last week.

**Becca** (1:38)
Let's have our first headline. This headline is from Al Jazeera, an international news organisation.
No sense of direction, the downfall of Keir Starmer.

**Phil** (1:49)
And that headline again from Al Jazeera, an international news organisation. No sense of direction, the downfall of Keir Starmer.

**Becca** (1:58)
This headline quotes experts on British politics who believe that Starmer's goals as Prime Minister were hard to see. That's what no sense of direction means.
We're going to look at the word downfall.

**Phil** (2:10)
Downfall is commonly used to talk about people who have been powerful or successful. If they have a downfall, it can either describe a situation where they lose their power or status suddenly, or it can be the thing that makes them lose their power or status.

**Becca** (2:28)
This article is suggesting that a lack of direction is what led Starmer to have to resign. It has been his downfall according to this headline.

**Phil** (2:38)
As well as in politics, downfall is often used to talk about criminal figures being caught and made to pay for their crimes. The police might carefully plan a criminal's downfall.

**Becca** (2:49)
We also sometimes use downfall in a slightly jokey, exaggerated way to talk about our guilty pleasures. Eating too much chocolate will be my downfall.

**Phil** (3:02)
We've had downfall, a sudden loss of power or status.

**Becca** (3:08)
For example, the singer's drug arrest led to his downfall.

**Phil** (3:18)
This is Learning English from the News, our podcast about the news headlines. Today, we're talking about the resignation of British Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

**Becca** (3:28)
Keir Starmer's successor will be the seventh British Prime Minister in the last 10 years, which is unusual.

**Phil** (3:36)
Questions have been raised about the strength of the British economy, and many people feel that living standards have been getting worse. This has contributed to unhappiness with politics in general.

**Becca** (3:47)
This leads us to our next headline. This headline is from Reuters, an international news organisation.
Can anyone fix Britain? Regular change of PM, a symptom of UK's malaise.

**Phil** (4:00)
And that headline again from Reuters, an international news organisation.
Can anyone fix Britain? Regular change of PM, a symptom of UK's malaise.

**Becca** (4:11)
This is about how the UK is changing prime ministers regularly. The word that we're learning is malaise.

**Phil** (4:17)
A malaise is a general feeling of low energy or bad health. It can refer to how a person is feeling, or just how people are feeling in general.

**Becca** (4:27)
Yes, this article discusses weak economic performance in the UK since 2008, suggesting that there is a feeling of general unhappiness, and that people feel that things are getting worse.

**Phil** (4:41)
Malaise is often used to talk about how people in a country might feel. It can also be used to talk about performance in business or sport.
A company or team suffering from malaise is unable to improve their results.

**Becca** (4:58)
We've had malaise, a feeling of low energy or bad health.

**Phil** (5:04)
For example, high unemployment is contributing to the country's malaise.

**Becca** (5:13)
This is Learning English from the News from BBC Learning English. We're talking about the resignation of British Prime Minister Keir Starmer.