{"id":145699,"date":"2026-07-04T08:02:44","date_gmt":"2026-07-04T08:02:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/starmer-tells-of-intensely-personal-decision-to-quit-and-warns-burnham-in-first-interview-since-resigning\/"},"modified":"2026-07-04T08:02:44","modified_gmt":"2026-07-04T08:02:44","slug":"starmer-tells-of-intensely-personal-decision-to-quit-and-warns-burnham-in-first-interview-since-resigning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/starmer-tells-of-intensely-personal-decision-to-quit-and-warns-burnham-in-first-interview-since-resigning\/","title":{"rendered":"Starmer tells of \u2018intensely personal\u2019 decision to quit and warns Burnham in first interview since resigning"},"content":{"rendered":"

LONDON, United Kingdom, Jul 4 \u2014 Sir Keir Starmer has warned his likely successor Andy Burnham will have to spend just as much time dealing with global turmoil as he has during his time in No 10.<\/strong><\/p>\n

In an untypically candid interview, the outgoing prime minister spoke for the first time about the \u201cintensely personal\u201d and \u201creally tough\u201d decision he took alongside his wife and children to accept that his \u201cpolitical career\u201d was \u201cover\u201d.<\/p>\n

Sir Keir told the BBC he had \u201csaved\u201d the Labour Party and been a successful prime minister.<\/p>\n

He promised to \u201ckeep my mouth shut\u201d under his successor, insisting that he liked Burnham and the pair had \u201calways got on\u201d.<\/p>\n

Sir Keir has faced frequent criticism during his two years as prime minister \u2013 an anniversary he is marking this weekend \u2013 about the amount of time he has spent on the world stage, with critics labelling him \u201cnever here Keir\u201d.<\/p>\n

\n

You asked me about this government\u2019s achievements over the last two years.<\/p>\n

Here they are. pic.twitter.com\/j3RwuIm8Nc<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Keir Starmer (@Keir_Starmer) July 4, 2026<\/a>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

Among Burnham\u2019s supporters in parliament are those who hope he will be able to focus more on issues in the UK such as the cost of living and public services.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is not sensible to think you can just separate these two things out,\u201d Sir Keir said.<\/p>\n

Asked if a prime minister could spend less time on diplomacy than him, he replied: \u201cNo, I don\u2019t think it is possible.\u201d<\/p>\n

He added: \u201cThere\u2019s often this discussion \u2013 what\u2019s the right balance between dealing with international affairs and dealing with domestic affairs? They\u2019re one and the same thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sir Keir continued: \u201cWhoever\u2019s my successor is going to face the same global conflict. We keep saying, and it\u2019s true, we\u2019re in a more dangerous and volatile world than we\u2019ve been in for probably most of my lifetime. That\u2019s not just a phrase, that\u2019s reality.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s not going to change. And the domestic challenges aren\u2019t going to change.\u201d<\/p>\n

\nAndy Burnham has ruled out calling an early general election if he becomes prime minister later this month\n<\/div>\n

Having repeatedly vowed to fight on as prime minister, including facing any challengers in a Labour leadership election, Sir Keir ultimately changed his mind and resigned within three days of\u00a0Burnham\u2019s victory in the Makerfield by-election.<\/a><\/p>\n

He described it as a \u201creally, really tough\u201d decision which he ultimately came to that weekend with his wife, Victoria, and teenage children at Chequers, the prime minister\u2019s countryside residence.<\/p>\n

\u201cI grappled with what was the best thing to do for me, for the country, for the government,\u201d Sir Keir said. \u201cAnd those discussions inevitably start with many discussions with colleagues, with parliamentary colleagues, with the team here, with my immediate advisers, with trade unions, so many people in that discussion.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut for me, and this may be different for other people, in the end it became an intensely personal decision. And that\u2019s why it was a decision taken ultimately when Vic and I were away with the kids. We went to Chequers and just spent two days together as a family. And that\u2019s when I came to my final decision.\u201d<\/p>\n

He added: \u201cTaking the decision that your political career is over, it is an intensely personal matter, or at least it was for me. I wanted to do that with Vic, and that\u2019s what I did.\u201d<\/p>\n

Starmer says decision to step down was \u2018intensely personal\u2019<\/p>\n

Sir Keir appeared to acknowledge that his successor is almost certain to be Burnham, although at other times he made reference to \u201cwhoever my successor is\u201d and said there was \u201ca little bit of process to go\u201d.<\/p>\n

He said he had \u201cnever had any personal animosity\u201d towards the former Greater Manchester mayor and that he would \u201cdo everything I possibly can to make sure\u201d that the next government succeeds.<\/p>\n

Sir Keir committed to remaining an MP until at least the next election but said he would be \u201ckeeping my mouth shut, rather than giving constant advice to my successor about what they should be doing\u201d.<\/p>\n

He made clear that he sees his four years as Labour leader in opposition as \u201cabsolutely core\u201d to his legacy.<\/p>\n

Describing Labour when he became leader as \u201cpolitically, financially and morally bankrupt\u201d, he said it had been \u201chard and bloody work\u201d.<\/p>\n

Sir Keir said that in electoral terms his success should sit alongside Clement Attlee\u2019s victory in 1945 and Sir Tony Blair\u2019s in 1997.<\/p>\n

He added: \u201cThe Labour Party arguably could have been lost, but I stepped up as leader and with others we saved the Labour Party\u201d.<\/p>\n

But he said he had been ousted because Labour MPs no longer believed he was \u201cthe right person to take us into the next election\u201d.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

Burnham rules out calling early election as PM<\/a><\/h3>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

Labour failed to prepare for power, admits PM\u2019s former top aide<\/a><\/h3>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

What are Andy Burnham\u2019s potential policies for No 10?<\/a><\/h3>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

Sir Keir Starmer\u2019s premiership in six charts<\/a><\/h3>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

LONDON, United Kingdom, Jul 4 \u2014 Sir Keir Starmer has warned his likely successor Andy Burnham will have to spend just as much time dealing with global turmoil as he has during his time in No 10. In an untypically candid interview, the outgoing prime minister spoke for the first time about the \u201cintensely personal\u201d […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-145699","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","entry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/145699","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=145699"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/145699\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=145699"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=145699"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=145699"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}