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Another prime minister appears to be on his way out. Why is the UK so hard to govern?

The United Kingdom is moving toward its sixth prime minister in the past seven years, a giddy rate of turnover never seen before in a country known for its venerable and stable democracy.

This week, one rival to embattled Prime Minister Keir Starmer resigned from office, and another positioned himself for a return to Parliament where he plans to launch a leadership challenge against the incumbent.

The double move Thursday of Wes Streeting鈥檚 resignation as health secretary and Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham鈥檚 declaration of intent to return to Westminster set the stage for a complex race to succeed Mr. Starmer as head of government and Labour Party leader. The process will be protracted; it will likely not start until Mr. Burnham has stood in a byelection for the seat being vacated by his ally, which will take some weeks.

In the meantime, Brits are asking: Is their country ungovernable?

None of the past five premiers have served a full term, a carousel of unprecedented failure and misfortune. A combination of Brexit, pandemic, global instability, steady economic decline, and a disillusioned electorate has made it very difficult to run the country 鈥� even for a prime minister who enjoyed a huge majority in Parliament.

Mr. Streeting himself acknowledged as much in his letter of resignation. 鈥淎s a member of your government, I know better than most that governing is hard,鈥� he wrote. 鈥淭here are enormous challenges facing this country. For the first time in our history the next generation faces a worse inheritance than the last.鈥�

鈥淚t has become much harder to govern,鈥� says Jonathan Tonge, a politics professor at Liverpool University. 鈥淧olitical leaders have the lowest popularity rating we鈥檝e ever seen. Once upon a time a PM with a -40 popularity rating would have been unthinkable.鈥�

Harder to govern

Mr. Starmer won a convincing general election victory in July 2024, but his popularity quickly evaporated because of policy-making viewed by the public as timid, falling living standards, and backlash against his decision to appoint Peter Mandelson, an associate of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, as ambassador to the United States in 2025.

Economic stagnation made it impossible to tackle a cost-of-living crisis due to the energy price shock caused by Russia鈥檚 war in Ukraine, and further aggravated by the chaos in the Strait of Hormuz.

Food and gasoline prices have spiked. Rent is absurdly high. Aging infrastructure 鈥� railways, hospitals, roads 鈥� desperately need attention. But every time there is even the hint of fiscal largess by No. 10 Downing St., bond markets take fright and drive up the government鈥檚 borrowing costs, because debt levels are already higher than at any point since the early 1960s.

In short, the money has run out.

John Curtice, perhaps Britain鈥檚 foremost political scientist and a regular television commentator on election nights, says it was clear when Labour took over that governing would not be easy. But he says Mr. Starmer has not helped himself.

鈥淟abour did face a horrendous legacy,鈥� he says. 鈥淚n these circumstances, you need a clear political project that you can sell to the electorate and the sense that you know where you are going. Starmer never did that. He has no feel as a politician. He thinks like a clever lawyer, but it鈥檚 just one skill set.鈥�

Disgruntled voters have started to shop around. The political map of Britain, already fractured by Brexit, has now properly fragmented. Those peeved at Labour鈥檚 failure to help redistribute wealth in favor of deprived communities have a resurgent Green Party to vote for. Those angered by the cost of living or immigration have found a new home in the Reform UK party. Those who cannot forgive Labour 鈥� or Mr. Starmer 鈥� for equivocating on Europe, are now Liberal Democrats.

鈥淭he traditional domination of British politics by the center-left Labour Party and the center-right Conservative Party looks like it is well and truly over,鈥� said Tim Bale, professor of politics at Queen Mary University, London, adding that fragmentation, voter gloom, and economic malaise is 鈥渕aking Britain harder to govern鈥�.

As such, Britain is following the experience of continental Europe, where traditional parties have been outflanked by populist insurgents, and where treasuries have been sorely tested by the pandemic, ageing demographics, and urgent new defense requirements spurred by U.S. President Donald Trump.

Inflated expectations?

But there is another more subtle factor that is making government harder, observers say: public expectations.

A few decades go, says Professor Tonge, people were more forgiving, more accepting of a world in which not everything went right. Now, intoxicated by electoral promises and manifestos and encouraged by social media perfection, voters expect government to provide instant fixes in a nation of protracted long-term problems.

鈥淭here are inflated expectations of what government can actually do,鈥� he says, adding that politicians are partly to blame by promising in opposition that everything will be better.

Of course, all of this comes at a time when there is less respect and more division in British society. 鈥淭here used to be more deference to the office of prime minister, more loyalty,鈥� Professor Tonge adds. 鈥淭here were fewer backbench rebellions.鈥�

Being a British prime minister was never easy. Margaret Thatcher took on miners, unions, students, and Argentines. Tony Blair fought hugely unpopular wars and terrorists and ultimately stepped down. Gordon Brown had to grapple with the financial crisis of 2008-09, Theresa May with Brexit, and Boris Johnson with the pandemic.

But even John Major, who endured seven turbulent years in office in the 1990s, acknowledges that things are harder now.

鈥淚t鈥檚 certainly getting harder because of the external pressure of social media,鈥� he told a BBC interviewer recently. 鈥淭he problems are wider today, and there seems to be a shorter time frame in which people feel they can deal with problems.鈥�