Starmer to Stand Down as MP, Triggering a By-Election
Sir Keir Starmer will resign as MP for Holborn and St Pancras less than two months after leaving Downing Street, saying it is “the right time to pass the baton” as he turns to international work on defence, security, trade and technology. Mr Burnham told the Commons he “has given this country a lifetime of public service”. The Greens — second across the seat’s wards at this year’s locals — hinted their leader may contest the by-election.
Leaving Parliament entirely, rather than brooding on the backbenches, follows the Cameron-Johnson route and spares both men the spectacle of a deposed prime minister watching his successor dismantle his caution — which Mr Burnham did again within hours, blaming Brexit and promising public ownership in terms Sir Keir never permitted himself. The by-election is the sting: Holborn and St Pancras looks safe on paper, but the Greens’ local-election surge and a possible Polanski candidacy make it a genuine test of whether Labour’s left flank holds under a leader supposedly recapturing it. Ms Badenoch’s barb about Labour MPs who “treated him so badly” carried just enough truth to land. Watch the Green decision — and the majority arithmetic when the writ moves.