Former UK prime minister Starmer steps down from Parliament
Keir Starmer led the Labour party from 2019 to 2026
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[LONDON] Former UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer is leaving British politics after deciding to step down as a member of Parliament.
Starmer told his local newspaper, the Camden New Journal, that it’s the “right time” to leave the House of Commons after 11 years in Westminster. His constituency, Holborn and St Pancras in London, is now expected to hold a special election and could provide an opportunity for the left-wing Greens. A spokesperson for the party said its leader Zack Polanski had always wanted to be an MP in London.
Starmer, who was the public sector’s top lawyer as director of public prosecutions before becoming an MP in 2015, led the Labour party from 2019 to 2026. He won a landslide general election victory in 2024 but was unable to hold on to the public’s goodwill and announced he was stepping down in June this year after a collapse in poll ratings. He was replaced by Andy Burnham.
The parliamentary by-election, as it is known in the UK, will be the sixth this year. Holborn and St Pancras is a Labour stronghold which Starmer won by 11,572 votes in 2024, yet one-off elections can produce volatile results as voters know they won’t affect the overall make-up of the government.
Camden Council, part of Starmer’s constituency, lost 17 seats in the local elections held in May as the Greens gained 10. Labour retained control of the council, however.
In a post on X, Starmer said it had been “an honour” to represent the constituency but that he now wanted to “focus on other issues: international affairs including defence, security, trade and technology in a fast changing world.”
He said he would continue to work with others to tackle violence against women and girls. He described his successes as prime minister, saying Labour “stabilised the economy, rebuilt public services” and transformed Britain’s reputation overseas.
This year’s other by-elections include Makerfield in which Burnham returned to parliament in order to replace Starmer as PM, and Clacton last month which Reform UK held after Nigel Farage stepped down in order to stand again. BLOOMBERG
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