Keir Starmer to stay on as MP but unlikely to want cabinet role

Keir Starmer will remain the MP for Holborn and St Pancras after standing down as prime minister, Downing Street has confirmed. Starmer’s spokesperson said he was not expecting to take a role in Andy Burnham’s cabinet if offered one, though some MPs have suggested Burnham could make Starmer foreign secretary. The spokesperson said Starmer would serve out the remainder of his term in the Commons and he was “going to remain” a Labour MP. Asked whether he would take a cabinet job if offered, the spokesperson said Starmer had told his cabinet: “This is the end of my journey, but this is not the end of yours.” Starmer has an 11,000 majority in his central London seat, though it would be a significant target for the Greens if he were to vacate it. Speaking during prime minister’s questions on Wednesday, Starmer said he would miss the weekly sessions and continued: “I’m very proud of every one of our MPs who’ve had a landslide Labour victory, coming from all different backgrounds, from all different places across the country. We inflicted the biggest loss on the Tory party opposite in the history of their party. We picked up our party, we turned it around.” If Burnham is unopposed as a candidate to succeed Starmer, he is expected to enter Downing Street on 17 July. Starmer will attend next month’s Nato summit in Ankara as one of his last acts as prime minister, including delivering the defence investment plan. …