What will Keir Starmer do next? | Keir Starmer

As his time in Downing Street comes to an end, Keir Starmer has been joking with friends about what he might do after leaving the prime ministership.

He joked that he could take a cooking class. “He needs it, he only cooks two meals,” said a friend. Another not entirely serious suggestion was to cut his father-in-law’s hedge with the expectation that if he was successful he could graduate to grass.

Another ally suggested climbing real mountains rather than the metaphorical ones that have hindered his political career over the past two years. His allies say he has yet to decide beyond that.

“Will take time to think about it,” one said. He doesn’t know yet what his priorities will be.” Veterans of Starmer’s Labor government (often accused of a lack of direction or vision) may well recoil when they admit this.

But most who have worked closely with him agree that he is likely to get something going on the international stage, where he has earned the respect of his fellow leaders and is generally viewed as successful by voters.

Starmer has frequently faced criticism over the amount of time he spends abroad, with critics labeling him as “never the Keir here”. But recently he has argued that international issues and domestic issues are “one and the same thing” because of the impact of one on the other.

“He has an incredible amount of experience to offer,” a friend said. “It looks like he’s finally going to do something internationally. It’s his comfort zone and it’s also what he’s best at.” It is reported that he was interested in this task when a vacancy arose in the position of NATO secretary general.

Starmer, meanwhile, is moving to the backbenchers, with Downing Street suggesting he will stay until the next election. Some of his friends aren’t so sure. “He doesn’t have the headspace to think about it yet. I don’t know where he’s going to land,” one said.

But others believe he will be guided by a sense of duty to voters, party and country. Local members in the central London seat had already called on him to stay in office to avoid a by-election that the Greens could win.

Each former prime minister also needs to decide what role he will play for his successor. Allies said they would take his advice, with one adding that he would advise Andy Burnham privately if asked rather than the public way of Tony Blair.

“He was a pain in the ass and that says a lot more about Tony than Keir,” said one ally. Another added: “He’ll be more Gordon Brown than Tony Blair in every way. I don’t think he’ll make millions. He’ll pick a cause he cares about and stick with it.”

How does Starmer view his own legacy, beyond the long list of government achievements he lists at every opportunity? In an interview with Sky News this week, he suggested he might be remembered as the person who “saved the Labor Party” after the Jeremy Corbyn era.

“Everyone along the way said: ‘This won’t happen. You won’t do it. It’s not possible.’ And each time I said: ‘It is. You watched me do this. We did that and won the general election.’ And I’m very proud of it. So I will leave with pride,” Starmer said.

However, although he says that he accepts that his party acted against him, some of his friends are worried that the truth has not come out yet. Starmer has spent the last few weeks in a hectic period of prime ministerial activity: pushing the boundaries of key policies on many trips at home and abroad.

“I don’t know what it means for him to wake up next week and find it’s quiet and he doesn’t have to go downstairs to meetings. Then he turns on the radio and someone is talking about the prime minister but it’s not him,” one person said.

Another added: “He needs to keep himself busy. His family are great; they will help.”

Some former prime ministers never seem to get over impeachment. For example, Boris Johnson, who signed his last prime minister’s questions with “hasta la vista baby”, is said to still believe he can make a comeback.

By contrast, Starmer, seen privately by friends, was there for his final appearance in parliament on Wednesday, telling his family watching: “To my wife and children: I love you.”

Over the next few weeks, Starmer will spend time on holiday with his wife Victoria and their two teenage children: almost every break during his time in office has been interrupted by global events or matters of state.

“I’m leaving probably the most high-profile job in the country to the most important one, being the best father I can be to my children and the best husband I can be to my wife,” he said last week.