Sir Keir Starmer’s decision to step down and give way to a new leader shows that he has put the country first, Attorney General Lord Hermer has said.
He told GB News Political Editor Christopher Hope: “This morning, well, his decency and dignity, and what is completely true to the Keir I know. He’s put the country first. He’s put it above his own self-interest. He’s put the country first.
“I think he has decided that a contest for the Labour Party is not in the interests of the country at the moment. We’re facing big challenges as a country, spending the next few months with people within the same party tearing chunks out of each other isn’t grown-up government, and if ever there was a grown-up Prime Minister, it’s Keir Starmer.”
On whether Andy Burnham has a mandate to lead the country, he said: “It wasn’t an individual who won the last election. Of course, Keir led us through it incredibly successfully, but it was a party manifesto. It was the Labour Party that got elected. It was individual MPs within the parliamentary Labour Party.
“I’d say about Andy, which is, I’m not sure I agree with you that he’s unknown in this country, I think he is very well known. I think he is coming in with a lot of popular support, and as Keir said at the lectern, and again, this is a measure of the Keir Starmer I know. Keir certainly, I can speak for myself, I can speak for all my colleagues, whoever becomes the next leader of the Labour Party, the next Prime Minister, will have our wholehearted support because the challenges we all face as a country demand it.
“Let’s see, firstly, who becomes the next leader. I wouldn’t be betting against [Burnham] at the moment, to be honest, but let’s see what happens. But whoever comes in is going to be leading a Labour Party that won a huge mandate at the last election, and they will have the full support of all of us in the Labour Party.”
He added: “You’ve worked tirelessly for years to get to a position where you want to be able to serve, and you find yourself in that position, to give it up. But let me tell you something about Keir. He did that this morning. Incredibly hard. He’s now getting on with the business of government.
“He’s got a few weeks left. He will use every minute of that in public service. He’ll be doing briefings today. He’ll be making decisions today. That is the type of Prime Minister it has been the privilege of my lifetime to serve.”
Asked why Sir Keir had failed to cut through with voters, Lord Hermer said: “I think it’s about two things. It’s about recognising what a decent guy has been running this country for the last two years and also, as the Prime Minister did, just reflecting on what we’ve actually achieved. I know that doesn’t always cut through, I know it’s not always top of the headlines on TV news, fair enough, but we’ve done so much in the last two years.
“I think, with the benefit of a bit of time and distance, we’re going to recognise that this was an extraordinary radical start to two years of Labour government, with three years still to come through to the next election.”
