Keir Starmer stands down as MP

Former Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has announced he will leave Parliament, triggering a by-election in the London constituency he has represented since 2015 and ending weeks of speculation over his political future.

Starmer said it was the “right time” to resign as MP for Holborn and St Pancras, a long-held Labour seat, after 11 years. The announcement came six weeks after he left Downing Street in July following pressure from Labour MPs to stand aside, and hours before his successor, Andy Burnham, made his debut in the House of Commons.

Starmer had previously said he would remain an MP until the next UK general election, which is not due until 2029. But he told the Camden New Journal he was ready to “pass the baton to a successor” and would now focus on work beyond domestic politics.

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

“I will also continue, as I have done for a long time now with others, to 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.”

In a social media post cited by Al Jazeera, Starmer wrote: “It is now time to step aside and focus on other issues: international affairs including defence, security, trade and technology in a fast-changing world.”

Starmer became prime minister after leading Labour to a landslide victory in the 2024 general election, ending 14 years of Conservative rule. Al Jazeera reported that U-turns, cuts, a diplomatic scandal, pressure from Reform UK and the challenge of Burnham eroded his authority before he was forced out. Burnham has become Britain’s seventh prime minister in a decade, according to Al Jazeera.

Paying tribute to his predecessor, Burnham cited Starmer’s work with Ukraine and the Hillsborough Law, drawn up under his government to improve the accountability of public officials and now going through Parliament.

“He has given this country a lifetime of public service, particularly for those fighting for justice,” Burnham said. “His leadership took our party from one of its worst defeats to its best victories and created a platform to change this country for the better. We will use it well, and we wish his family the very best for the future.”

Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch wished Starmer well, adding: “I can understand why he would not want to spend time with the Labour MPs who treated him so badly after he won them their seats.” Conservative Party chairman Kevin Hollinrake accused Starmer of “another U-turn having pledged to stay on” and said the decision would prompt a “costly by-election for taxpayers.”

A date for the by-election will not be set until Starmer formally resigns his Commons seat. That will be confirmed only after the government gives him a crown appointment, the mechanism that disqualifies an MP from the Commons. Labour expects to select a candidate by Sept. 9, according to the party’s website.

Holborn and St Pancras has long been a Labour stronghold. Starmer held it in 2024 with a majority of more than 11,000 votes; Al Jazeera put the margin at more than 11,500. The BBC reported that the Greens are likely to be Labour’s main challenger after coming second by vote totals in this year’s local elections in wards that make up the constituency, with 29.8% of the vote to Labour’s 39.5%. Reform UK was a distant third by those totals.

Candidates have not yet been confirmed. A Green Party spokesperson said leader Zack Polanski, a London Assembly member, had “always made it clear he would like to be a London MP.”