𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀𝓼

It may come as no surprise that Sir Keir Starmer’s final act in Parliament was none other than a U-turn. Sir Flip Flop just weeks ago vowed to stay and serve from the green backbenchers in the Commons, despite being ousted from No 10 by Andy Burnham. But the former Prime Minister has proved he does not want to be a backseat driver, after announcing he would quit as an MP.

There is no escaping the truth that being a former PM on the backbench is awkward, especially when his successor is explicitly criticising his two years in power. But staying put is something former Tory Prime Minister Rishi Sunak endured, and so did Theresa May. It took David Cameron years to return to the front benches, which he did as Foreign Secretary under Mr Sunak.

But Sir Keir has chosen to trigger a by-election in Holborn and St Pancras, which could be a tricky test electorally following the Green Party’s success in the capital at local elections.

It seems its leader, Zack Polanski, could put himself forward to fight in the sudden race, where protest parties traditionally do well because of the ability to funnel resources into a specific seat.

There had been speculation that Sir Keir could have been given a top job under Mr Burnham, but that never came to fruition when he announced his top team before the summer break.

Sir Keir appeared to want to take some of the thunder from Mr Burnham, who stood at the despatch box for the first time as Prime Minister within hours of Sir Keir’s announcement.

This is a decision Sir Keir had clearly been thinking about for weeks, but chose Tuesday to make the announcement in a final dagger to the man who ousted him.

Sir Keir had pledged to stay in the Commons, but he has set his sights on the international stage.

He had often jetted abroad during his tenure as UK leader and made ending the war in Ukraine a key pillar of his time in power.