Prime Minister Keir Starmer said on Monday he would resign, with a new ​leader to be in place by the time parliament returns in September, paving the way for Britain to have its seventh leader ‌in 10 years.

Less than two years after he won a landslide election victory that promised to end chaos in British politics, Starmer said it was clear that his party wanted him to go, Reuters reported.

“The question my party is asking now ​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,” he said.

PRESSURE HAD BEEN BUILDING FOR MONTHS

The threat to ⁠Starmer, which had been building for months, increased sharply on Friday when Burnham, the Greater Manchester mayor, decisively won a parliamentary election to return to Westminster, ​beating a candidate from Nigel Farage’s Reform UK party, which has led national opinion polls for more than a year.

That victory gave hope to Labour lawmakers that ​Burnham, a career politician known for his communication skills, could transform the fortunes of a party that has lost support under Starmer, whose popularity ratings have sunk to the lowest for any British leader.

Starmer thanked his colleagues for their support, his voice cracking with emotion as he also paid tribute to his wife and children.

The pound and British government ​bonds were steady in the immediate aftermath of Starmer’s announcement, which investors had widely expected.

Despite the attempt at a smooth handover, the change is not ​without risk.

Beyond saying that the country needs fundamental change and to bring down the cost of living, Burnham has yet to make clear his approach to foreign affairs, the economy ‌and defence.

Like ⁠Starmer, he could find he has little room to manoeuvre, hemmed in by bond market investors opposed to any additional borrowing, and confronted by an angry electorate which believes the country is not working properly.

Britain already has the highest borrowing costs in the Group of Seven wealthy nations due to its high debt and interest payments, years of anaemic economic growth, its struggles to cut spending and the need to invest in areas like defence.

Investors spoken to by Reuters were divided over whether Burnham, ​who said last September that Britain ​had to get “beyond this thing of ⁠being in hock to the bond markets” would respect the need to reassure markets.

He has since said he was misrepresented.

“In our view, a Burnham premiership would inherit a precarious fiscal situation with few tools to deliver meaningful change,” ​economists at Citibank said on Friday.

STARMER HAD PLEDGED TO FIGHT ANY CHALLENGE

Starmer had said on Friday he would stand ​in any formal Labour ⁠leadership contest that sought to replace him. But that appeared to change over the weekend.

Whoever replaces Starmer will become Britain’s seventh prime minister since the Brexit vote to leave the European Union which took place 10 years ago this week.

That level of turnover – the highest in Britain in nearly two centuries – underlines the struggle of maintaining the ⁠support of ​voters angry at successive failures to improve living standards, public services and tackle illegal immigration.

The political ​advisory group Eurasia had said the best outcome could be for Starmer to say he will step down in September, enabling him to attend a UK-European Union reset summit in July and ​give Burnham time to prepare for government.

US envoy Steve Witkoff and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi were both headed to Switzerland for talks, Axios said on Friday, as a ceasefire in Lebanon appeared to revive efforts to turn an interim Iran war pact ​into a lasting regional deal, Reuters reported.

Israel and Hezbollah agreed to a ceasefire in Lebanon on Friday after escalating fighting cast doubt over U.S.-Iran talks critical to reopening the Strait of Hormuz ‌and stabilising oil supplies.

That followed a 14-point memorandum the two sides signed this week to halt fighting and open a 60-day window to resolve disputes over Iran’s nuclear program, as well as other thorny issues needed to forge a more durable deal.

U.S. Vice President JD Vance canceled plans on Thursday to travel to Switzerland for the talks, however, amid rising tension in Lebanon between Israel and Hezbollah, a militant group backed by Iran.

With the ceasefire in place, Witkoff is heading to Switzerland to join Jared Kushner, President ​Donald Trump’s son-in-law, who is already there, Axios said. Araqchi plans to travel there on Saturday, it added.

The development may signal that both sides intend to begin technical negotiations aimed at securing a permanent ​truce.

The White House did not respond to questions about Witkoff’s travel.

A senior U.S. official said the ceasefire took effect around 4 p.m. (1300 GMT) in Lebanon following an ⁠exchange of fire, adding that negotiators for the United States and Qatar had worked out the agreement with help from Iran, read the report.

Two sources from Hezbollah and a senior Israeli official confirmed the ceasefire to Reuters.

“If Hezbollah does not ​attack us, then for us it is not a time of war,” the Israeli official said, adding that Israel would keep its forces in southern Lebanon, where it has occupied an area along its northern border.

Two Lebanese security ​sources said Israel had carried out a dozen airstrikes in the first hour of the ceasefire but none were recorded after 5 p.m.

Lebanon’s health ministry said Israeli strikes after midnight into Friday had killed 47 people and wounded 97, while the Israeli military said four soldiers had been killed in an incident in Lebanon, without giving further details.

The conflict in Lebanon could weigh on negotiations because ending fighting there is a condition for the broader U.S.-Iran accord.

Following Wednesday’s signing of the memorandum of understanding, preparations ​for technical talks at the Swiss mountaintop resort of Buergenstock were well advanced when the White House said on Thursday that Vance would not attend.

The Swiss foreign ministry said the talks had been postponed but Switzerland stood ready ​to facilitate them and preparatory work was continuing.

The broad interim deal requires the United States, Iran and their allies to declare an immediate and permanent termination of military operations on all fronts, including in Lebanon.

Israel, left out of the talks, says ‌it is ⁠not party to the deal.

Araqchi, in a telephone call with his Pakistani counterpart on Friday, said the United States would be responsible for any violation of its commitments under the deal, including ending the fighting in Lebanon, his ministry said.

Lebanon was sucked into the regional war when Hezbollah opened fire at Israel on March 2, prompting it to launch an offensive against the group and invade the south of the country.

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun condemned the latest Israeli attacks but said the escalation would not hinder efforts to reach a comprehensive ceasefire.

The U.S. State Department said Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke to Aoun and reiterated the need to disarm ​Hezbollah, while reaffirming U.S. support for a “fully sovereign” Lebanese state.

It ​said they also discussed holding a next round ⁠of Israel-Lebanon negotiations in Washington from June 23 to June 25. The Lebanese presidency said a comprehensive ceasefire was a fundamental pillar for these talks.

The Iran war, which began on February 28 with U.S. and Israeli air attacks on Iran, has killed at least 7,000 people, mostly in Iran and Lebanon. It also ​pushed up energy prices, stoking inflation worldwide.

Brent crude ticked higher on Friday, but was set for a weekly fall of about 8% after the Lebanon ceasefire, and oil ​shipments through the Strait of ⁠Hormuz picked up after the signing of this week’s deal.

The strait carried nearly a fifth of global crude oil and liquefied natural gas supplies before it was blockaded by Iran during the war.

The body set up by Iran to manage the strait said on Friday it would waive planned fees during the interim deal’s negotiation period.

The MoU foresees relief for Iran from economic sanctions, the unfreezing of assets worth tens of billions of dollars and immediate U.S. waivers for its exports ⁠of oil. It ​also provides for a $300-billion reconstruction fund for Iran and other financial incentives.

Trump again defended the deal after criticism in Washington, including some ​from Republican allies in Congress who question whether he conceded too much to end a war unpopular with most Americans ahead of midterm elections in November.

“The War has diminished Iran!” he wrote on social media on Friday, adding, “We didn’t meet out of desperation, Iran did. They ​are FINISHED! We’ll play out the 60 days. They get no money, not 10 cents!”

Switzerland said U.S. talks with Iranian negotiators on a pact to end the Middle East conflict, would not take place on Friday, as Vice President JD Vance dropped plans to travel to Geneva, adding to uncertainty whether a lasting truce can be ​found, Reuters reported.

“The logistics of these negotiations have never been simple or predictable,” the White House spokesperson said in a statement on Thursday night. Vance and the U.S. delegation had been ready ‌to depart as soon as plans were finalised.

The talks, set for the mountaintop resort of Burgenstock, would not take place, Switzerland’s foreign ministry confirmed, but gave no details.

There was no immediate response from Iran, which had earlier said it was ready to begin technical talks after Wednesday’s 14-point accord extended a tenuous ceasefire by at least 60 days.

Iran’s negotiators first needed to see signs of the U.S. implementing the interim deal, and there was no confirmation its delegation would travel to Geneva, the semi-official Tasnim ​news agency said before Vance’s Thursday announcement.

U.S. officials had also said they would hold a formal signing ceremony for the U.S.-Iran agreement in Switzerland, but Iran’s foreign ministry had cast doubt on ​the plan, calling it unnecessary after both countries’ presidents signed the pact.

The war, which began on February 28 with U.S. and Israel air attacks on Iran, has ⁠killed at least 7,000 people, sent energy prices soaring and shaken global markets.

Israel, left out of the peace talks, has distanced itself from the U.S.-Iran accord and kept up fighting against the Iranian-allied Hezbollah militant group in Lebanon, also raising questions about whether ​the agreement would hold.

In Washington, some of U.S. President Donald Trump’s Republican allies in Congress questioned whether he had conceded too much in order to end the conflict, unpopular with most Americans in the run-up to ​mid-term elections in November, read the report.

Trump had sworn to end the war only with Iran’s “UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER.”

But the memorandum signed with Iran instead provides relief from economic sanctions, unfreezes assets worth tens of billions of dollars and immediate U.S. waivers for its exports of oil.

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei said Trump had signed the deal “out of desperation” and signalled that approaching talks over Iran’s nuclear program, among Trump’s stated reasons for starting the war, would not be easy.

“If the American side wants to be too demanding, we ​will not accept it,” he said in a message.

The deal gives negotiators 60 days to agree on the status of Iran’s nuclear program, unless an extension is agreed, and set up a $300 billion reconstruction fund for Iran ​and other financial incentives.

Vance said Washington would also seek to limit Iran’s long-range missiles.

The growing cost of the war also drew the spotlight, as the U.S. defence department told lawmakers it needed $80 billion to cover the costs and some ‌unrelated bills, the ⁠Wall Street Journal said.

When the U.S. and Israel launched the war nearly four months ago, Trump said he aimed to destroy Iran’s nuclear capabilities to ensure it could never develop such weapons.

He also sought to end Tehran’s ability to strike its neighbours, prevent it from backing allied anti-Israel militants in the region and make it possible for Iranians to topple their theocratic government.

None of those objectives had been met when Trump signed the agreement, in which Iran restated its decades-long assertion not get or develop nuclear weapons, a position doubted by a succession of U.S. presidents, Reuters reported.

It also agreed to the onsite “down blending” of its highly enriched uranium stockpile and inspections by the International Atomic ​Energy Agency as a Non-Proliferation Treaty member, rejecting Trump’s ​wish to remove the material from the country.

U.S. ⁠officials say the negotiations could still yield a strong agreement on Iran’s nuclear program, aiming to better one dating from 2015 between Iran, the U.S. and other countries that Trump tore up in his first term.

But critics say Iran is in a stronger position now, having withstood a superpower attack, demonstrated its control of the Strait ​of Hormuz and gained valuable waivers to financial sanctions.

Iran has said it will still exert control over Hormuz in partnership with Oman, its neighbour across ​the critical waterway, and intends ⁠to charge ships service fees that did not exist before the war, although not during the 60-day talks.

Oil prices dipped on Friday as prospects brightened for more supply after tankers began moving through the reopening Strait, which had carried nearly a fifth of global crude oil and liquefied natural gas supplies before the war.

In Lebanon, where more than a million people have been displaced by the fighting, fresh Israeli strikes on Friday killed at least 15, the state ⁠news agency NNA ​said, in attacks Israel said were directed at Hezbollah targets.

That raised doubt about how far Trump will go to force his ​wartime ally to halt an offensive he has now pledged to end.

The deal calls for “permanent termination” of the war in Lebanon, but Israel has said it has no intention of withdrawing, instead depicting an expanded occupation zone in a new map.

Trump has become openly critical of ​Israel’s operations in Lebanon, opening one of the biggest rifts between the two countries in decades.