Keir Starmer breaks silence on resignation and issues Andy Burnham warning: 'I don't think it's possible!'

Sir Keir Starmer has broken his silence on his resignation as Prime Minister in an untypically candid interview with the BBC.

The Prime Minister, who could be out of No10 as early as July 17, issued a dire warning to his successor-in-waiting, Andy Burnham.

When asked if a future Prime Minister could spend less time on diplomacy than him, Sir Keir: "No, I don't think it is possible."

He added: "There's often this discussion – what's the right balance between dealing with international affairs and dealing with domestic affairs? They're one and the same thing."

The Prime Minister, who was labelled "never here Keir" due to the number of foreign trips he embarked upon during his premiership, appeared to take a swipe at Mr Burnham for his North-centric stance.

The ex-Greater Manchester Mayor is supposedly hoping he will be able to spend more time focusing on issues in the UK, including the cost of living crisis and public services.

Mr Burnham is even planning to spend more time in Manchester as part of his push to open a No10 North unit to help transfer devolved power to the regions across England.

The announcement triggered a furious response from Reform UK and Tory figures, with Mr Burnham being warned against wasting millions of pounds worth of taxpayers' cash to "play Prime Minister in Manchester".

However, Sir Keir's interview with the BBC came just weeks after the Prime Minister insisted he would stand in a Labour leadership contest.

Discussing the decision to step down, Sir Keir admitted it was "really, really tough".

He revealed he came to the conclusion his time in No10 was over after spending the weekend with his wife, Victoria, and their teenage children at Chequers.

"I grappled with what was the best thing to do for me, for the country, for the government," Sir Keir said.

"And those discussions inevitably start with many discussions with colleagues, with parliamentary colleagues, with the team here, with my immediate advisers, with trade unions, so many people in that discussion.

"But for me, and this may be different for other people, in the end it became an intensely personal decision.

"And that's why it was a decision taken ultimately when Vic and I were away with the kids.

"We went to Chequers and just spent two days together as a family. And that's when I came to my final decision."

The Prime Minister added: "Taking the decision that your political career is over, it is an intensely personal matter, or at least it was for me. I wanted to do that with Vic, and that's what I did."

Sir Keir is just the seventh Labour leader to become Prime Minister.

However, the former Director of Public Prosecutions will go down as the shortest-serving Labour Prime Minister after residing in No10 for just over two years.

Despite no longer holding the top job, Sir Keir committed to serve his constituents in Holborn & St Pancras until at least the next election.

There had been speculation that Sir Keir is eyeing up a new job at the United Nations or Nato.

Sir Keir also hailed his efforts to turn around Labour's electoral fortunes after Jeremy Corbyn led the party to its worst defeat since 1935.

He told the BBC: "The Labour Party arguably could have been lost, but I stepped up as leader and with others we saved the Labour Party."

Sir Keir insisted his landslide victory in 2024 should sit alongside Sir Tony Blair's in 1997 and Clement Attlee's in 1945.