In his first sit down interview since he announced he will quit as Prime Minister, the PM defended his achievements, and insisted he held no ‘personal animosity’ for Mr Burnham
Keir Starmer has backed Labour to “go on to win the next election” under Andy Burnham because of the work he has done in power.
In his first sit down interview since he announced he will quit as Prime Minister, the PM defended his achievements, and insisted he held no “personal animosity” for Mr Burnham, who is all but guaranteed to replace him.
Discussing his legacy with the BBC, Mr Starmer pointed to his stamping out of antisemitism in the party, the 2024 general election victory and claimed his Government had “stabilised the economy”.
Backing Labour to go on and defeat Reform UK, he said: “My successor will have a platform to build on, which means that Labour can go on and should go on to win the next election.
“And that’s what I’m trying to make sure I’m able to do over the next few days to serve my country and to make sure that I bow out. It’s the end of my journey in politics. I’m very clear about that.
“I’ve said to all my colleagues it’s not the end of their journey. And it’s very important that we all do what we can to make sure what comes next is a success. And that’s what I will do.”
The PM insisted he “didn’t come into politics in order to be the Prime Minister”, and later added: “Did I want it to end at this point in this way? No, I didn’t. But I accept that with good grace.”
Elsewhere in the interview, the Prime Minister was asked if he liked Mr Burnham, who is set to replace him in Downing Street.
He said: “Yes, I do. We’ve always got on. He supports the wrong football club. We get on, I’ve never had any personal animosity, and I wish he… if he is my successor, obviously there’s a little bit of process to go. But I want what comes next to succeed and I’m going to do everything I possibly can to make sure it does succeed.
“And I’m going to support the Government. And what I mean by support is that any advice I give will be only given if asked for.
“It’ll be given behind the scenes and I won’t be on camera or on the radio giving my version of what the Prime Minister should be doing because that’s my interpretation of supporting a Labour government.”
Asked if he knew what would come next, he said: “I don’t know, is the honest answer to that. The decision I’ve taken is that I should focus 100% on serving my country as Prime Minister until the day I leave, and then I can take time to think about what might come next.”