New Delhi, June 26 -- The announcement was five minutes long. Keir Starmer delivered it on the pavement outside No. 10 Downing Street on the morning of June 22, without notes, and left the building he had occupied for just over two years as Britain's prime minister. Before it was done, his successor was already being called the prime-minister-in-waiting. Britain will have its sixth prime minister in seven years: another change of government without a general election, another prime minister outlasted by the crisis rather than the campaign.

"Every decision I've taken has been about putting the country I love first. That is why I will resign as leader of the Labour Party."

He pledged his full and unequivocal support to his successor and s...