By Andi Hoxhaj
Great Britain is heading towards its seventh prime minister in a decade, as it remains blocked by the failed Brexit process, which neither citizens nor political leaders have managed to make functional.
The ruling Labour Party, shaken by heavy losses to "Reform", a far-right populist party led by Nigel Farage, after the local elections on May 7, is seriously considering replacing Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham and former Health Secretary Wes Streeting are preparing to challenge for the leadership, believing they are more likely than Starmer to stop Reform in the next parliamentary election, expected to be held in May 2029.
Starmer entered 10 Downing Street in July 2024, a little less than two years ago, after a landslide victory for Labour, which followed public fatigue from 14 years of Conservative Party rule.
But by May 2026, his standing had collapsed: his approval rating was near an all-time low, with just 19 percent viewing him favorably. More than 80 Labour MPs, following his defeat in local elections, called on him to resign as leader of the Labour Party and prime minister, fearing that his unpopularity could damage Labour's chances and hand over the keys to 10 Downing Street to Farage in 2029.
If Starmer is replaced, Britain would have its seventh prime minister since the 2016 Brexit referendum, which set the country on a path to exit the European Union.
The last time Great Britain changed prime ministers at a similar pace was in ten-year periods during the 18th century, 1760–1770, and in the 19th century, 1827–1837.
This rapid turnover of leaders is not simply an unusual feature of contemporary politics.
Brexit has done more than cost Britain several prime ministers over the past decade: it has reshaped the British political landscape.
From two parties to seven
The old Conservative-Labour duopoly, which had dominated since 1721, has been shattered into a five-party system. In the local elections of May 2026, Reform took about 26 percent nationally, followed by the Greens on 18 percent, the Conservatives on 17 percent, Labour on 17 percent and the Liberal Democrats on 16 percent.
Changing prime ministers, in itself, will not solve the central problem: the UK's failure to make Brexit work.
David Cameron resigned after the referendum, while demands for its implementation overwhelmed Theresa May. Boris Johnson won the election promising to “get Brexit done” but fell amid scandal. Liz Truss’s 45-day term devastated markets and sent the pound plunging, while Rishi Sunak tried to stabilise the situation with the Windsor Framework but lacked the authority to restore confidence.
Now Starmer, who promised competence and a repair of relations with the EU, finds himself hit by the same forces.
Brexit is not the source of all the problems facing Britain today. But it has amplified many of them: weak economic growth, stagnant wages, strained public services, erosion of public trust, polarized politics, trade barriers, labor shortages, and a corrosive sense of perpetual political crisis.
These are not isolated problems, but symptoms of a political and economic rift that Britain has yet to come to terms with since leaving the EU in 2016.
Brexiteers, notably Farage and Johnson, promised to take back control. Instead, the UK seems increasingly incapable of shaping events at home or projecting influence abroad. Migration, a cornerstone of Farage’s Brexit campaign, has soared since Brexit, exposing how much of the debate has been driven by narrative rather than structural reality.
Starmer's government has given EU partners a sense of predictability: he has cultivated close relations with France, co-leading a "Coalition of the Willing" with French President Emmanuel Macron in support of Ukraine.
In May 2026, his government also introduced legislation for the UK–EU partnership, which aims for closer alignment on trade, technology, security and citizens' rights with the EU, potentially paving the way for the UK to join the European single market to mitigate the high cost of living, which has increased by 20 percent in the last four years alone.
What does Brussels gain? Not much.
However, the specter of Farage and the prospect of an anti-EU government complicates a deeper political engagement for the EU.
Why should the EU make difficult concessions to a Britain under Labour, if it can easily change course within a few years under a possible “Reform” government?
The key point is that Britain's political turmoil is not simply the result of weak leadership, but stems from a country caught in ongoing uncertainty following an unresolved decision to leave the EU.
As Britain grapples with the fallout from Brexit and the ensuing instability in both its political landscape and economy, its GDP is around four to eight percent lower, while business investment has fallen by around 12 to 18 percent compared to the level it would have been if the UK had remained in the EU.
Brexit is a “disaster”. Let’s (do) nothing
Those now positioning themselves to replace Starmer, notably Burnham and Streeting, have called Brexit a disaster. If they are serious, they must go beyond the cosmetic approach to the EU that Starmer is already pursuing and force a frank national confrontation: should the UK rejoin the EU?
Polls increasingly suggest that there is a majority in favour of reunification with the EU, with a younger generation now increasingly recognising the benefits of membership after a decade of Brexit, as opposed to the half-measures proposed by Starmer, Burnham or Streeting.
But only an honest debate about the true social and economic costs of Brexit can offer a credible path out of the political turmoil of the last decade.
After a decade of economic stagnation, political turmoil, and a decline in international weight caused by Brexit, the UK should consider reunifying with the EU because the country has simply become ungovernable.
But the UK must first face the consequences of Brexit and build a clear political agenda for its relations with the EU, whether through entry into the European single market or through full EU membership, and not through a half-hearted approach of closer alignment with the EU.
Only replacing prime ministers will prolong the cycle of instability.
