Keir Starmer’s resignation shows him for what he really is

That has never been Keir Starmer’s thing, not least because he is not a career politician – he was 52 when he was first elected as MP for Holborn and St Pancras, and was only a backbencher for three months before he became a shadow minister, then shadow Brexit secretary, then leader, then prime minister.

It is not hard to see why learning how to become a backbencher now, aged 63, watching in close proximity while Andy Burnham does his old job, might not appeal. People would have entirely understood if Keir Starmer had decided not to do that, especially if he had stepped down as he handed over the keys to the Number 10 flat to Burnham.

But Starmer didn’t do that. Instead, he publicly promised he would stick around until the next general election, and gave every indication that was what he would actually do – as recently as last week, he was advertising for a constituency caseworker. 

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Once again, Starmer has made it easy for his critics. First, he made a promise that he absolutely did not need to make, and then he broke it less than three months later. Several factions of the party will find that a fitting epitaph for his political career.

The timing of Starmer’s announcement, though, adds some real spice to his decision. Yes, he can argue with apparent sincerity that Tuesday marked the first day of Parliament’s return, and his timing was just in line with that. But no one in the party will actually believe that: Starmer was the prime minister until just a few weeks ago. He knows how the political diary works.

Tuesday was Andy Burnham’s first full Cabinet meeting, and his first appearance in Parliament as prime minister. This was his Westminster launch, and Keir Starmer turned up to spoil the party on his way out of the door, for no benefit to himself other than, perhaps, a little spiteful satisfaction.

On one level, Starmer is perfectly entitled to rain on Andy Burnham’s parade – Andy Burnham did, after all, spend almost a year all but openly campaigning to replace Starmer as prime minister, causing endless headaches for Starmer’s operation as he did. 

Starmer was so unpopular by the end of his premiership that he would have been replaced come what may, whether Andy Burnham managed to return to Westminster or not, but it is understandable if he feels somewhat uncharitable towards his successor. 

Most of us, in his position, would be tempted to lash out. Most of us, though, would probably be persuaded that doing so was a bad idea. It has made Starmer look petulant and self-interested, it has made him look indifferent to Labour’s prospects, and it has made him look indifferent at best to the future prospects of the government that he led until very recently. That kind of thing sticks in the memory of MPs. Starmer was unlikely to leave a great political legacy behind him, but he has done himself no favours here.

None of this is a particularly big deal: Starmer will have been a fly in the ointment for what should’ve been Andy Burnham’s big day, but not much more than that. He has somewhat blotted the copybook of his legacy, but that was never going to be glowing anyway. But he has left a bigger problem for Burnham in the weeks to come: Burnham’s first by-election.

Holborn & St Pancras is, on paper, a very safe Labour seat. It’s got a big majority, and it’s in Labour’s modern heartland of central London. But by-elections are unpredictable things, and Labour has been facing sustained challenges from the Greens and left-wing independents across the capital.

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The Greens have already suggested they will strongly contest the seat, hinting that party leader Zack Polanski himself might be the candidate. Holborn & St Pancras also has a sizeable student population, and the Green vote in the local elections almost matched that of Labour.

Andy Burnham should be able to hold on to the seat, but he can’t take it for granted – meaning he has to spend the next six to eight weeks worrying about his left flank. During that time, Burnham needs to pass his first budget, and he had also been looking to pass immigration reforms, and – if rumours are to be believed – authorise drilling in two North Sea oil fields.

All of those are now much more politically difficult than they were yesterday, thanks to Keir Starmer’s resignation. Perhaps this is Starmer’s way of teaching his successor a lesson. 

Starmer himself found that being prime minister was much more difficult than he had expected, or prepared for. With his resignation, he’s forcing his successor to prove whether he’s a quicker study.