Starmer insists he has no ‘personal animosity’ towards Burnham as he recounts ‘tough’ decision to resign in first interview
Sir Keir Starmer insisted he has “no personal animosity” towards Andy Burnham in his first interview since resigning as prime minister.
The Prime Minister announced his resignation on June 22 following the former Manchester mayor’s landslide victory in the Makerfield byelection.
Starmer told the BBC that he “never had any personal animosity” towards Burnham and that he would “do everything he could” to ensure the next government was successful.
He explained that he would “keep my mouth shut instead of constantly advising my successor on what they should do.”
Sir Keir warned his successor would face the challenge of dealing primarily with global issues in his first term as prime minister.
“There’s often this debate about what is the right balance between dealing with international issues and dealing with domestic issues? They’re one and the same thing,” he said.
“Whoever my successor is will face the same global conflict. We say it all the time, and it’s true, we’re in a more dangerous and volatile world than we’ve probably been in for most of my life. It’s not just a saying, it’s reality.”
“That’s not going to change. And neither will the domestic challenges.”
Making a candid statement about his decision to resign, Sir Keir said he was taking time to discuss his options with his family.
“I have wrestled with what is the best thing to do for myself, for my country, for the government. And those discussions inevitably start with many discussions with colleagues, with colleagues in parliament, with the team here, with close advisors, with the unions and with many others who are involved in this debate.”
“But for me, and it may be different for other people, it ultimately became a very personal decision. That’s why it was a decision that was made while Vic and I were away with the kids. We went to Checkers and spent two days together as a family. That’s when I came to my final decision.”
He added: “It’s a deeply personal matter when you decide your political career is over, or at least it was for me. I wanted to do that with Vic, and that’s what I did.”
In the months before his resignation, Sir Keir’s premiership was plagued by controversy over the appointment of Peter Mandelson as US ambassador despite concerns about the investigation.
In the final tranche of documents to be released as part of the Jeffrey Epstein files, Mr. Mandelson’s connections to Epstein were resurfaced and further examined.
Following Labour’s widespread losses in local elections, scores of MPs and cabinet ministers resigned and called on the prime minister to do the same. But Sir Keir withstood the pressure until Burnham’s path to Downing Street was cleared.
