Graphic: The U.K. is in a new era of leadership turnover

Data GraphicsGraphic: The U.K. is in a new era of leadership turnoverThe country is nearing its seventh prime minister since 2016.Listen to this article with a free account00:0000:00President Donald Trump speaks to outgoing U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer at the NATO summit in The Hague, Netherlands in June 2025.Markus Schreiber / AP fileShareAdd NBC News to GoogleJune 25, 2026, 10:39 AM EDTBy Joelle GrossBritons of today might be getting accustomed to their prime ministers’ resigning, but it’s anything but normal.Limited time: Save 25% on NBC News subscriptionGet exclusive reporting, live Q&As and ad-free reading.The U.K. has had six prime ministers since 2016, compared with just three from 2000 to 2015. By further comparison, Larry the cat, who has lived and served at 10 Downing Street since 2011, has outlasted six (soon to be seven) prime ministers.The amount of turnover in the U.K. exceeds that of any of the other G7 countries — Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States.Italy and Japan closely follow the U.K. with five new prime ministers since 2016. However, the comparison is not entirely apples to apples. Scholars say Brexit ignited a shift in British politics: Voters are quicker to change parties, which make prime ministers more expendable. That is in contrast to other democracies that have long traditions of rapid leadership change, such as Italy and Japan. Italy’s government often produces short-lived leaderships. While Giorgia Meloni, Italy’s current prime minister, has been in office since 2022, she leads the 68th government since Italy became a republic about 80 years ago. In Japan, the last 10 years have seen fewer leaders than the 10 years that preceded them. From 2006 to 2012, Japan had a new prime minister every year.Canada and France stand in sharp contrast to the U.K. Justin Trudeau was prime minister for nearly a decade, and Emmanuel Macron is in his ninth year as president. Germany has had three chancellors since 2016. They...