Keir Starmer is to quit as the MP for Holborn and St Pancras, saying it is the right time for him to leave the Commons.
Starmer, who resigned as prime minister in July, told the Camden New Journal he wanted to focus on international affairs and “pass the baton to a successor”.
Starmer had previously said he would seek to serve out his term as a backbench MP, and his decision to quit will spark a byelection. The Green party leader, Zack Polanski, is understood to be considering a run for the central London seat.
Starmer told the paper: “It has been a huge honour and privilege to represent the best constituency in the country and to have taken over from Frank Dobson, who was such a great constituency MP and a member of the last Labour government.
“I will now focus on other things and that will be international affairs including defence, security, trade and technology in a fast-changing world. I will also continue, as I have done for a long time now with others, work on combating violence against women and girls.”
Starmer’s seat, long seen as a safe Labour hold, is likely to be targeted by the Greens, potentially for Polanski who is a London assembly member. “Zack has always made it clear he would like to be a London MP. London has been his home for over 20 years,” a Green party spokesperson said.
The independent leftwing candidate Andrew Feinstein was Starmer’s closest challenger at the last election. Feinstein, who had been close to Jeremy Corbyn, was then involved in Your Party but resigned amid disagreements over party finances.
Starmer told the New Journal he had decided over the summer that he wanted to focus on international work and that meant he had to step down as an MP.
“I think once you’ve been prime minister, it’s important to answer the question: what are you going to do next? Having decided I’m going to concentrate on international affairs, I think it’s right to step down,” he said.
Starmer said he was proud of his work in the constituency since 2015 as well as his achievements as prime minister. “I want to thank all of those I was privileged to work with in the constituency on issues that matter hugely: affordable housing, first-class education and the work we did on knife crime through the Camden youth support, which was really, really important,” he said.
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He said his local party “always had my back”, adding: “They have been resolute in their support for me, firstly in becoming an MP and then becoming the leader of Labour party and then as prime minister.”
The Conservative party chair, Kevin Hollinrake, said it was “fitting that his final act as a member of parliament is yet another U-turn having pledged to stay on. The decision to stand down will mean a costly byelection for taxpayers at a time when Andy Burnham and John Healey are plotting tax rises on hard-working families across the country.”
