Former British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has announced that he will also step down as the Member of Parliament for Holborn and St Pancras, effectively bringing his frontline domestic political career to an end. Starmer has represented the north London constituency since 2015 and told the Camden New Journal that after 11 years in the House of Commons it was time to “pass the baton” to a successor. He had initially indicated that he would remain an MP until the next general election, but has now changed his plans and says he will concentrate on international affairs, including defence, security, trade and technology. He also intends to continue his long-standing work on combating violence against women and girls. His departure will trigger a by-election in Holborn and St Pancras, although no date has yet been set.
The decision follows an extraordinarily rapid political reversal. Starmer became Labour leader in 2020 and led the party to a landslide general-election victory in July 2024. Less than two years later, however, his government was struggling with falling public support, controversial policy reversals, internal Labour unrest and heavy losses in England’s local elections and elections to the Scottish and Welsh parliaments in May 2026. Reform UK was one of the major beneficiaries, while more than 20 Labour MPs publicly or privately questioned whether Starmer could lead the party into another election. Senior ministerial resignations followed, and after Andy Burnham returned to Parliament, Starmer announced on June 22 that he no longer believed he was the right person to take Labour into the next national vote. Burnham subsequently became Labour leader and took over as prime minister in July.
Starmer nevertheless leaves office with a more favourable reputation in foreign affairs than in domestic politics. As prime minister he worked closely with France and other European governments in support of Ukraine, sought to reset relations with China, recognised a Palestinian state and navigated a complicated relationship with Donald Trump’s US administration. The coming Holborn and St Pancras by-election will also provide an early test of Labour’s ability to defend one of its traditional strongholds after its former leader’s downfall. In the 2024 general election, Starmer won 18,884 votes, or 48.9%, compared with 7,312 for independent candidate Andrew Feinstein, giving him a majority of 11,572. His vote share had nevertheless fallen by 17.3 percentage points from the previous election, showing that his personal support in the constituency was already weakening even at the moment of Labour’s national triumph.
Sources: Reuters, Associated Press, UK Parliament, Camden New Journal.
