The UK Just Lost Its Sixth Prime Minister of the Decade

英国十年内第六位首相辞职

UK prime minister Keir Starmer has resigned from office less than two years after leading the Labour party to a landslide general election victory. 英国首相基尔·斯塔默（Keir Starmer）在带领工党赢得大选并取得压倒性胜利不到两年后，宣布辞职。

Starmer’s popularity has tanked since the start of his premiership as Britons have faced tax hikes and spending cuts, and struggled to see the promised improvements to creaking public services. May’s local elections confirmed the challenge Labour faces in keeping the British electorate onside, after the party lost nearly 1,500 councillors across the country, losing control of 38 councils. Many were snapped up by Nigel Farage’s challenger party Reform UK. 自斯塔默上任以来，其民意支持率一路下滑。英国民众面临着增税和削减开支的压力，且难以看到承诺中对摇摇欲坠的公共服务体系的改善。五月份的地方选举证实了工党在争取选民支持方面面临的严峻挑战：该党在全国范围内失去了近1500个议席，并失去了38个地方议会的控制权。其中许多席位被奈杰尔·法拉奇（Nigel Farage）领导的挑战党派“英国改革党”（Reform UK）夺走。

“The question my party is asking now is whether I am best placed to lead us into the next general election,” Starmer said on Monday morning outside his official residence on Downing Street in London. “I have heard the answer of my parliamentary party to that question, and I accept that answer with good grace.” A general election is not due in the UK until 2029. “我党目前正在探讨的问题是，我是否还是带领我们进入下一次大选的最佳人选，”斯塔默周一上午在伦敦唐宁街官邸外表示。“我已经听到了议会党团对这一问题的回答，我欣然接受这一结果。”英国下一次大选原定于2029年举行。

Donald Trump even piled in over the weekend, predicting the resignation in a post on his Truth Social platform and criticizing Starmer for having “failed badly” on immigration and energy. Net migration to the UK has fallen under Starmer’s premiership, though he has struggled to contain small boat arrivals, a proxy in public debate for unauthorized immigration. Trump is also a critic of the Labour government’s restrictions on oil and gas drilling in the North Sea. 唐纳德·特朗普（Donald Trump）周末也介入了此事，他在其“真实社交”（Truth Social）平台上发文预言了斯塔默的辞职，并批评斯塔默在移民和能源问题上“彻底失败”。尽管在斯塔默任内，英国的净移民人数有所下降，但他始终难以遏制小船偷渡问题——这在公共辩论中常被视为非法移民的代名词。特朗普也是工党政府限制北海油气钻探政策的批评者。

Former Labour mayor of Manchester, Andy Burnham, is expected to replace the embattled premier after former Health Secretary Wes Streeting—who quit Starmer’s government last month and had previously said he would stand in any leadership contest—pledged his support. 在曼彻斯特前工党市长安迪·伯纳姆（Andy Burnham）获得前卫生大臣韦斯·斯特里廷（Wes Streeting）的支持后，预计他将接替这位陷入困境的首相。斯特里廷上个月退出了斯塔默政府，并曾表示将参加任何领导权竞选。

Since the Brexit referendum in 2016, Britain has seen an unprecedented turnover of leaders, beginning with David Cameron’s resignation after the Brexit vote, Theresa May in 2019 after failing to secure support for her Brexit deal, Boris Johnson amid a wave of ministerial resignations and scandals, Liz Truss after the market turmoil triggered by her mini-budget, and Rishi Sunak following Labour’s landslide victory in the 2024 general election. 自2016年英国脱欧公投以来，英国经历了前所未有的领导人更迭：从脱欧公投后辞职的大卫·卡梅伦（David Cameron），到因无法确保脱欧协议获得支持而在2019年辞职的特蕾莎·梅（Theresa May），再到在部长辞职潮和丑闻中下台的鲍里斯·约翰逊（Boris Johnson），因“迷你预算”引发市场动荡而辞职的利兹·特拉斯（Liz Truss），以及在2024年大选工党大胜后下台的里希·苏纳克（Rishi Sunak）。

Pressure on Starmer reached a critical point on Friday after Burnham won a seat in parliament through a by-election in North West England. That enables Burnham, who is popular within his party, to run for party leadership, and with enough support even to challenge Starmer’s premiership had he not resigned. 周五，随着伯纳姆通过英格兰西北部的补选赢得议会席位，斯塔默面临的压力达到了临界点。这使得在党内颇受欢迎的伯纳姆有资格竞选党魁，如果斯塔默没有辞职，他甚至可能凭借足够的支持挑战斯塔默的首相地位。

Starmer will remain prime minister until the governing Labour party elects a new leader, which he said would be before parliament resumes in September. 斯塔默将继续担任首相，直到执政的工党选出新领导人。他表示，这一过程将在九月议会复会前完成。

Labour’s victory in the July 2024 general election put an end to 14 years of Conservative rule, which had seen five different prime ministers. At the time, Starmer criticized the chaos caused by the party’s inconsistency. 2024年7月工党在大选中获胜，终结了保守党长达14年的执政，期间该党共更换了五位首相。当时，斯塔默曾批评保守党政策不连贯所造成的混乱。

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates. 这是一篇持续更新的报道，请关注后续进展。