Keir Starmer resigns as Prime Minister: what this means for dentistry

As Prime Minister Keir Starmer announces his resignation, the dental profession is left asking what its political future holds.

Today (22 June) the Prime Minister said he accepted with ‘good grace’ that he was no longer best placed to lead his party into the next general election. He said: ‘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.’

Labour came to power promising to rebuild NHS dentistry, including more appointments, filling dental deserts with new graduates, and reform of the dental contract to encourage more dentists to offer NHS care.

But nearly two years into government, the profession is still waiting for the full contract reform process to begin. Starmer’s departure now raises fresh questions over whether dentistry will remain a political priority under his successor, and whether Labour can deliver meaningful reform before the next general election.

The next UK general election must be held by 15 August 2029, unless one is called earlier.

Who will replace Keir Starmer?

Following his recent win in the Makerfield by-election, Andy Burnham has confirmed that he will stand to replace Starmer as Labour Party leader, promising ‘stability, seriousness and a continued focus on the issues that matter most’ going forward.

As mayor of Greater Manchester, Burnham’s main priorities for dentistry were tackling childhood oral health inequalities and healthcare devolution to build local preventive dental programmes. However, he has yet to specify how he would approach dentistry on a Parliamentary level.

The profession will now be looking for clarity on whether he would keep Labour’s existing dentistry commitments, retain the current ministerial team and accelerate dental contract reform.

Former health secretary Wes Streeting made a statement backing Burnham’s leadership bid. He said: ‘We could spend the summer exaggerating small differences, or we can roll up our sleeves and help him to deliver the change our party and our country needs. That is the choice that I am making and I hope that everyone else will back Andy, too.

‘We were elected change our country, to show that politics can be a force for good, and to spread opportunity for everyone. With Andy, we still can.’

How will this impact dentistry?

Speaking to Dentistry.co.uk at Dentistry Show Birmingham, British Dental Association (BDA) chair Eddie Crouch expressed concern at the amount of time that Labour had left to reform NHS dentistry.

He said: ‘Unless we get that consultation and make progress on this, their ambition to reform the contract during this parliamentary term is going to be under pressure.’

However, he also suggested that there was support for dentistry in the wider government, saying: ‘What I hope is that a minister that I’ve built up a relationship with over the last two years, who I believe has got the right motives, will continue in post, irrespective of who eventually ends up leading the Labour Party.’

He concluded: ‘I believe that there is a parliamentary will to actually improve dentistry, and that’s across all parties – whether I meet the Greens, the Liberal Democrats, the Conservatives or Labour. Everyone wants NHS dentistry to be resolved. With that political will, we have reason to be optimistic.’

How has the opposition responded to Keir Starmer’s resignation?

Reform Party leader Nigel Farage described Starmer as ‘the most incompetent Prime Minister this country has ever had the misfortune of having’. He called for a general election ‘at the soonest possible date’ as ‘the country cannot afford to waste another week drifting from crisis to crisis’.

Farage also said it would be ‘ridiculous to pretend that Andy Burnham has any kind of meaningful mandate to lead the country’. He concluded: ‘Britain needs change – real change, not another washed-up has-been shoved into place by the uniparty.’

Find out more about what a Reform Party government would look like for dentistry here.

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