Starmer to quit parliament, triggering byelection in Holborn and St Pancras in north London
Keir Starmer is going to resign as an MP, his local paper, the Camden New Journal, is reporting.
When he resigned as PM, Starmer said he planned to stay as a backbench MP until the next election. But he has changed his mind, the paper reports. It says:
After weeks of speculation about his future plans, [Starmer] chose his local newspaper to explain why he felt it was the “right time” to leave the House of Commons and concentrate on new work on international affairs.
He told the New Journal that, after leaving Downing Street at the end of July, he had reflected on what lay ahead and that he was ready to “pass the baton to a successor”, adding: “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.”
This means there will be a byelection in Holborn and St Pancras in north London, where Starmer had a majority of 11,572 at the last election. At one point there were fears this could lead to Labour losing the seat to the Green party, but in recent weeks Labour’s national poll ratings have been rising and support for the Greens is on the wane.
Key events
Ed Miliband says government accepts need to ‘step change’ in action against Israel to stop expansion of illegal West Bank settlements
Ed Miliband is now taking questions in the Commons in his new role as foreign secretary. The first two questions were answered by junior ministers, but Miliband took the third question himself. It was from Labour’s James Naish, who asked what the government would do to stop the expansion of illegal settlements on the West Bank.
Miliband condemned the settlements and said that the government would “not acquiesce in the destruction of the two-state solution”. He said the government was consulting with allies, and that an announcement about the measures it would take was coming soon.
He said Andy Burnham himself spoke recently about the need to do more to ban trade with the illegal settlements.
Asked by Labour’s Martin Rhodes if a trade ban affecting the illegal settlements would apply to the trade in services, Miliband said Rhodes had made an important point. He went on:
We need to look and we are looking indeed at our wider economic relationship with the occupied territories and the different tools we have to tackle it.
I want to be very clear; we do not want British companies financing, constructing or advertising new settlements. The work we are now undertaking is how we can stop that.
When Kit Malthouse (Con) criticised previous government ministers for mouthing “platitudes” on this issue “like goldfish”, and said they had completely failed to stop the expansion of illegal settlements, Miliband said that he agreed with Malthouse “pretty much entirely”.
And when the SNP’s Brendan O’Hara attacked Labour’s record on this, Miliband said the recognition of Palestinian statehood was significant. He went on:
I think we on this side of the house, as the prime minister has said, recognise the need for a step change in our approach, given the urgency and, as I say, he won’t have to wait too long [for an announcement].
Here are some comments from journalists on Keir Starmer’s decision to stand down as an MP.
From ITV’s Paul Brand
If Polanski stands in Holborn, it’s kinda wild that three current party leaders will have all stood in by-elections in the past three months. By-elections rarely been so in vogue! (Burnham, Farage, Polanski)
From the Guardian’s Jessica Elgot
Makerfield was proof of concept for Burnham to beat Reform. Now, conveniently, we have another opportunity for him to prove another concept…
From the New Statesman’s Ben Walker
It’s not a guarantee for Polanski. I imagine he’s quite fairly holding out for a Hackney but I don’t doubt he’ll feel pressure to stand…
I mean if Labour stands an arms dealer or member of Pinochet’s cabinet then yeah sure it’s an easier ask
From Novara Media’s Ash Sarkar
There’s an emotionally generous way you could read this (he genuinely thinks it’s detrimental to the Labour Party and government to have to fight for his seat at the next election). But, to be honest, my sense is that Keir Starmer is a man who likes Being Important more than he’s interested in serving the public.
From the Sun’s Harry Cole
Big moment for Whacko Zacko just as Burnham’s entire strategy of stemming the Green bleed gets up and running with virtue signalling on Israel etc
Exquisite timing by Starmer.
From the Guardian’s Owen Jones
All that crap about Keir Starmer being about public service
He wanted power for its own sake. That’s it.
He was only interested in climbing the ladder of power.
The ladder collapsed under the weight of his own cynicism, so now he’s off to try and find another ladder.
From the Spectator’s Madeline Grant
Having repeatedly taunted Rishi Sunak with suggestions he’d move to California after losing the General Election, Starmer himself is the one who cuts and runs. V apposite that his departure involves one final bit of shameless hypocrisy
Farage takes seat in Commons after winning Clacton byelection
In the Commons Nigel Farage, the Reform UK leader, has been sworn in as MP for Clacton. He was MP for Clacton before the summer anyway, but he triggered a byelection as a protest about the inquiry into claims he broke Commons rules by not declaring a £5m donation from the cryptocurrency billionaire Christopher Harborne.
After he won the byelection in August, Farage gave an interview in which he said “maybe” he should have declared the donation after all – implying he does now accept the inquiry is justified. (But he is also angry about the inquiry being extended to include financial support he received from his friend George Cottrell that also wasn’t declared.)
From the start of this academic year student nurses, and other people doing healthcare courses in England, will get upfront payments to cover placement costs. That means they will get the money they need for travel and accommodation costs for clinical placements in advance, instead of having to claim the money back. The Department of Health and Social Care has a news release about this here.
How Zack Polanski told an interviewer in April he would ‘almost certainly’ stand in any London byelection
In an interview in April, Zack Polanski, the Green party leader, said he would “almost certainly” run in a future byelection in London. He told La Repubblica’s Antonello Guerrera:
So when Gorton and Denton came up and people asked me, obsessively, are you going to run? And I didn’t run because, although I’m from Manchester, I’ve lived in London nearly 20, or over 20, years now. And so there would have been a narrative to say, oh, it’s my hometown, I’m going back. But I think that would have been dishonest.
Secondly, I knew we had amazing candidates like Hannah Spencer, where I wanted a candidate from a local community. I think I was proven to be right.
If there was another byelection outside of London, I still wouldn’t be running in it. We have amazing candidates right across the rest of the country.
If there’s a byelection in London, I’ll almost certainly be running, well, depending on where it is. I live in Hackney, so if it’s somewhere around Hackney, so you could be looking to Hackney North, Hackney South, Walthamstow, Holborn and St Pancras, if Keir Starmer is going anywhere, and even, you know, Tower Hamlets. I think, generally, around the east of London, in the northeast, I’ve lived there for a long time. I have a connection to the place. I think there are other places in London where I’m already a London Assembly member, but I have less legitimate connection.
Keir Starmer has posed a statement on social media about his decision to stand down as an MP. It is much the same as what he told the Camden New Journal. (See 1.06pm.)
Is it unusual for a former PM to quit the Commons before a general election?
Keir Starmer is not the first ex-PM to change his mind about remaining in the House of Commons until the next election as a backbencher. David Cameron also resigned as PM in July, only to quit the Commons for good two months later. He initially thought he could stay as MP without causing trouble for his successor, Theresa May, but quickly realised on some issues he would not be able to support her. (He announced he was going very soon after she hinted she would lift his block on new grammar schools.)
Tony Blair did not even leave it that long; he resigned as an MP the same day he left Downing Street, realising that if he were to stay in the Commons with Gordon Brown as PM, that would probably be intolerable for both of them.
Boris Johnson also resigned early as an MP after leaving Downing Street – but that was because the privileges committee was about to say he should be suspended for lying about Partygate.
Other ex-PMs, like Theresa May and Liz Truss, have remained in the Commons after being forced out of No 10 midway through a parliament. May even stood for re-election at the subsequent general election (2019) following her return to the backbenches, as did Harold Wilson (in 1979).
Most PMs who lose office at a general election when their party loses only subsequently serve one more term in the Commons as a backbencher. But James Callaghan served for two more parliaments after he lost the 1979 general election, ending up as father of the house, and Edward Heath spent another 27 years in the Commons after losing both 1974 general elections.
Before the 2024 election critics claimed that, if Rishi Sunak lost, he would swiftly give up his seat and move to California. But he remains MP for Richmond and North Allerton and seems determined to stay until the next election.
Andy Burnham will start his Commons statement at 3.30pm. The Commons authorities have confirmed that there will be no urgent questions (which would have come first).
The statement is being described as being about “government direction”.
Afterwards, from about 5.30pm, Alex Norris, the justice secretary, will give one on the prisoner early release scheme. And then Shabana Mahmood, the home secretary, will give a statement on policing in Cleveland.
Starmer leaves ‘shameful legacy’, says Your Party
Your Party, the leftwing party founded by Jeremy Corbyn and others, has said Keir Starmer leaves a “shameful legacy”. A Your Party spokesperson said:
Keir Starmer leaves behind a party hollowed out, millions of voters disillusioned and a shameful record of British complicity in the genocide in Gaza. He entered politics as a human rights lawyer and leaves having abandoned those principles when they mattered most. Now he is abandoning his constituents too. That’s certainly a legacy!
Starmer may run, but he can’t hide from the shameful legacy he leaves behind.
Corbyn was suspended and then ultimately expelled from Labour after Starmer replaced him as the party’s leader.
Burnham says government has had ‘strong sense of momentum’ since he became PM
Andy Burnham told colleagues at cabinet that he thought the government had established “a strong sense of momentum” since he became PM.
At the No 10 lobby briefing, giving a readout from what was said at cabinet, the PM’s spokesperson said:
The prime minister opened cabinet by thanking colleagues for establishing a strong sense of momentum in his first weeks in office. He said the country had noticed a change of pace, with the government setting the agenda and starting the process of giving local areas the levers they need to create good growth. He said that during his summer tour it was clear that life was hard for many people, but that they wanted to have hope and hear a positive outlook for the country.
According to the spokesperson, Burnham also used his opening remarks to thank Alex Norris, the justice secretary, for his work on changing the prisoner early release scheme and Shabana Mahmood, the home secretary, for her “relentless work on small boat crossings”. (See 9.29am.)
Starmer says it is ‘right to step down’ given his decision to focus now on international affairs
Here are some more quotes from the interview Keir Starmer gave to the Camden New Journal announcing his decision to stand down.
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Starmer said he wanted to focus on issues like international affairs, defence, security, trade and technology. He said:
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.
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].
The constituency Labour party has got many, many fantastic people and there will be no shortage of first class candidates.
In terms of some of the things that have changed: we are opening ten breakfast clubs across the constituency – five of them opened in April, five more will be opened when the schools go back this week. I think breakfast clubs make a huge difference for children and parents because everybody knows that a child that hasn’t eaten before they try to start learning is not going to learn as well as other children.”
Free school meals are coming again this week, that’s 4,600 children in the constituency that will now benefit, the minimum wage increase will make a difference to thousands of workers across Camden who are on or near the minimum wage and there’s an increase in the number of GPs. The two child benefit cap being lifted will affect 2,500 children in the constituency who will now begin to be lifted out of poverty. Then there’s the Renters’ Rights Act – 16,500 renters in Holborn and St Pancras – and of course everybody who is at work will benefit under the Employment Rights Act.
My years on the frontline were basically six and a half years because it was from picking up the Labour party in 2019 from the worst election result since 1935 and turning it around to a general election landslide victory in 2024, while most people said it wouldn’t be possible to win the election in 2024 – let alone win it with a landslide. No leader has ever pulled such a swing across from such a low base to a landslide in the way that we did.
Greens don’t rule out Zack Polanski standing in Holborn and St Pancras byelection
The Greens have not ruled out Zack Polanski, the party’s leader, standing as their candidate to replace Keir Starmer as MP for Holborn and St Pancras, my colleague Jessica Elgot reports.
NEW – A Green party spokesman said: “Zack has always made it clear he would like to be a London MP. London has been his home for over 20 years.”
Sounds like Polanski might fancy a tilt at Holborn and St Pancras.
Tories describe Starmer’s decision to trigger ‘costly’ byelection as ‘yet another U-turn’ given pledge to stay as backbencher
This is from Kevin Hollinrake, the Conservative party chair, on Keir Starmer resigning as an MP.
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 byelection for taxpayers at a time when Andy Burnham are John Healey are plotting tax rises on hardworking families across the country.
The Conservatives look forward to giving the people of Holborn and St Pancras a chance to vote for a stronger economy and a stronger country in the weeks ahead.
In June, Starmer’s spokesperson said that Starmer would remain as an MP until the next election shortly before Starmer stood down as PM.
Starmer to quit parliament, triggering byelection in Holborn and St Pancras in north London
Keir Starmer is going to resign as an MP, his local paper, the Camden New Journal, is reporting.
When he resigned as PM, Starmer said he planned to stay as a backbench MP until the next election. But he has changed his mind, the paper reports. It says:
After weeks of speculation about his future plans, [Starmer] chose his local newspaper to explain why he felt it was the “right time” to leave the House of Commons and concentrate on new work on international affairs.
He told the New Journal that, after leaving Downing Street at the end of July, he had reflected on what lay ahead and that he was ready to “pass the baton to a successor”, adding: “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.”
This means there will be a byelection in Holborn and St Pancras in north London, where Starmer had a majority of 11,572 at the last election. At one point there were fears this could lead to Labour losing the seat to the Green party, but in recent weeks Labour’s national poll ratings have been rising and support for the Greens is on the wane.
