India, June 23 -- Less than two years ago, Labour party leader Keir Starmer spearheaded a historic victory in a British general election. He dragged his party from the morass of its worst ever electoral defeat in 2019 to a majority just marginally short of Tony Blair's record in 1997. On Monday morning, Starmer announced his decision to resign as prime minister, paving the way for in all likelihood Andy Burnham, until last week the mayor of Greater Manchester, to succeed him as Prime Minister.

In the Labour party, a leadership aspirant other than an incumbent requires an endorsement of at least 20% of his MPs - equal to 81 such lawmakers at present -- as well as of 5% of constituency parties or 3% of affiliates, of which at least two mus...