“He’s got an incredible amount of experience to offer,” one friend said. “It feels like he’ll end up doing something international-facing.
That’s his comfort zone and also what he’s best at.” He is reportedly interested in the role of Nato secretary general, when there is a vacancy.
In the meantime, Starmer is heading to the backbenches, with Downing Street suggesting he will stay until the next election.
Some of his friends are not so sure. “He hasn’t had the headspace to think about it yet.
I don’t know where he’ll land,” one said.
But others believe he will be guided by his sense of duty: towards constituents, party and country.
Local members in his central London seat have already urged him to stay on to prevent a byelection that could be won by the Greens.
Legacy and Next Steps
Every former prime minister also needs to work out what role they will play for their successor.
Allies say he will keep his counsel, with one adding that he would offer Andy Burnham advice in private if asked, rather than the more public route taken by Tony Blair.
“He was a pain in the ass and that says more about Tony than it ever did about Keir,” one ally said.
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Another added: “He’ll be more Gordon Brown than Tony Blair in every way. I can’t see him going off to make his millions.
He’ll pick a cause he cares about and stick with it.”
