Former British prime minister Sir Keir Starmer announced on Tuesday that he will stand down as MP for Holborn and St Pancras, a decision that will force a by-election in the north London seat.
Starmer made the announcement in a statement to the Camden New Journal, the local newspaper covering his constituency, saying it had been a “huge honour and privilege” to represent the seat for 11 years, Ada Derana and Hiru News both reported, citing the BBC.
He said he was ready to “pass the baton to a successor.”
A reversal of what he said on leaving office
Starmer resigned as prime minister earlier in the summer and was replaced by Andy Burnham. In a BBC interview shortly after stepping down, he said he intended to remain an MP until the next general election.
Tuesday’s statement reverses that. It follows weeks of speculation at Westminster over whether he would serve out the parliament from the back benches.
He set out two areas of future work: international affairs — naming defence, security, trade and technology — and campaigning against violence against women and girls.
“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.”
The timing
The announcement came hours before Burnham was due to deliver his first statement to the Commons as prime minister, setting out his priorities and taking questions from MPs.
No date can be set for the by-election until Starmer formally resigns his seat, a step he has not yet taken. Holborn and St Pancras is a long-standing Labour stronghold; Starmer held it with a majority of more than 11,000 votes at the 2024 general election.
The succession, in this archive
Burnham’s arrival in Downing Street closes a thread this site last picked up in June, when Defence Secretary John Healey resigned over military spending and Burnham was described as a challenger attempting to return to frontline politics to launch a leadership bid. He has since made it. Neither Starmer’s resignation as prime minister nor Burnham’s succession was covered here at the time.
Starmer’s premiership intersected with Sri Lankan coverage mainly through the war on Iran. In April he urged Washington and Tehran to “find a way through” after talks in Islamabad collapsed, and days later said the United Kingdom would not support a US blockade of Iranian ports — a position with direct bearing on the shipping lanes Sri Lankan trade depends on.
Not reported
Neither outlet reported when Starmer will formally resign the seat, whether Labour has begun selecting a candidate, or what form his international work will take. Neither gave a date for his resignation as prime minister, and neither said whether he intends to take a formal international role or a seat in the House of Lords.
