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Outgoing British Prime Minister Keir Starmer called his decision to step down from office “intensely personal” in his first interview since he resigned last month.
“It was tough. I’m not going to pretend otherwise,” Starmer, who will remain in office until his Labour Party appoints a successor, told the BBC.
“I grappled with what was the best thing to do for me, for the country, for the government,” he said. “In the end, it became an intensely personal decision”.
Starmer also had some words of warning for his likely successor, the former mayor of Greater Manchester and newly elected MP Andy Burnham, who recently returned to Westminster after winning the Makerfield by-election in June.
He said the next prime minister would not be able to spend any less time focusing on diplomacy and international affairs, citing the impact of the wars in Ukraine and Iran.
“The biggest impact on the cost of living, therefore on the household income and living standards of everybody in the country… the biggest impact in the last few years has been on one hand the Ukraine conflict, on the other the Iran conflict,” he said.
“If you’re prime minister and you care what bills are going to be like in any household around the country, you have to care about finding a lasting solution to the situation in Ukraine. You have to care about what happens in the strait of Hormuz,” he added.
Starmer, who said he had “always got on” with Burnham, has faced criticism from some throughout his time in Downing Street for spending too much time out of the country and meeting with other world leaders, with some dubbing him “never here Keir”.
Burnham, by contrast, has homed in on domestic issues as he bids to take over as leader of the Labour Party, pledging to end trickle-down economics and neoliberalism.
Burnham previously served as the MP for Leigh from 2001 to 2017 before becoming mayor of Greater Manchester.
Speaking after his victory in Makerfield, Burnham said Labour had a “final chance to change” and “build a new politics based on unity and hope”.
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