Keir Starmer To Resign As An MP Less Than 2 Months After Leaving Downing Street

Keir Starmer is resigning as the MP for Holborn and St Pancras less than two months after he left Downing Street.

The former prime minister told his local newspaper, the Camden New Journal, on the day MPs returned to Westminster following their summer recess.

Starmer was kicked out of office just before the break in July amid widespread dissatisfaction with his leadership from the Labour backbenchers.

Andy Burnham, previously Greater Manchester mayor, quickly secured a seat in the Commons and ran uncontested to replace the ex-PM.

Starmer said: “It has been a huge honour and privilege to represent the best constituency in the country and to have taken over from Frank Dobson, who was such a great constituency MP and a member of the last Labour government.

“I will now focus on other things and that will be international affairs including defence, security, trade and technology in a fast-changing world.

“I will also continue, as I have done for a long time now with others, work on combating violence against women and girls; that is an issue that matters to me hugely.

“It’s work I started before I became an MP and it’s work I’m keen to continue after I’m an MP. So international affairs on the one hand, and continuing my work on violence against women and girls on the other.”

His remarks come after widespread speculation about his future plans.

When delivering his final speech on Downing Street in mid-July, Starmer said it was the “end of my political journey” and insisted he was “proud of everything I have achieved”.

However, he did tell the BBC that he intended to stay on as an MP until the next general election.

Speaking to his local newspaper more recently, the Labour MP said he was now ready to “pass the baton to a successor”.

Starmer said he has told his local Labour constituency party staff of his intention to leave the London seat.

The party will now start a selection process to find a candidate for the subsequent by-election – a significant test for the new Burnham government.

Starmer said he would not be endorsing any potential successor but would support whoever is selected by Labour.

His decision to withdraw from domestic politics comes after his biographer, Tom Baldwin, revealed Starmer had been advised not to return to his former home in Kentish Town, north London.

The property – which Starmer lived in before getting the keys to NO.10 – was firebombed in May 2025.

Two men were jailed in June following a trial at the Old Bailey over arson attacks on property connected to Starmer.

The jury heard Roman Lavrynovych and Stanislav Carpiuc had been recruited by an anonymous Russian-speaking figure called “El Money” on the messaging service Telegram.

Speaking in the House of Commons at the time, the then PM said it was “an attack on all of us, on democracy and the values that we stand for”.

Starmer and his family divided their time between Downing Street and the country grace-and-favour residence Chequers when he was prime minister.

The ex-PM also fuelled further questions about his future by telling the newspaper: “I think once you’ve been prime minister, it’s important to answer the question: what are you going to do next? Having decided I’m going to concentrate on international affairs, I think it’s right to step down [as MP].”

Kevin Hollinrake, Tory party chair, said: “Whilst we have disagreed with almost all of Sir Keir Starmer’s decisions, I wish him and his family well for the future.

“It is fitting that his final act as a Member of Parliament is yet another u-turn having pledged to stay on.

“The decision to stand down will mean a costly by-election for taxpayers at a time when Andy Burnham are John Healey are plotting tax rises on hardworking families across the country. “

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