Former Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has announced that he is standing down as an MP, triggering a by-election in his constituency of Holborn & St Pancras.
Sir Keir has been the MP for Holborn and St Pancras since 2015 and was elected Prime Minister in 2024.
He left Downing Street last month, following the election of Andy Burnham as the new Labour Party leader.
Speaking to the Camden New Journal, following weeks of speculation as to whether he would remain an MP, Sir Keir said that the "time is right" to "pass the baton" to a new MP.
He added: “It has been a huge honour and privilege to represent the best constituency in the country and to have taken over from Frank Dobson, who was such a great constituency MP and a member of the last Labour government."
The seat of Holborn and St Pancras was created in 1983, and has only ever been held by Labour.
Speaking in the Commons for the first time since becoming Prime Minister, Mr Burnham paid tribute to Sir Keir, saying his predecessor had "given this country a lifetime of public service".
When will the by-election be to replace Sir Keir Starmer?
A date for the Holborn and St Pancras by-election is yet to be confirmed.
But The Standard understands that it is expected to take place on Thursday October 8, or possibly a week later on the 15th, after the writ for the contest was being issued on Monday afternoon.
The process of triggering the by-election started with Labour’s Chief Whip Anneliese Midgley “moving the writ”.
This entailed a motion in the House of Commons chamber asking MPs to agree to issue a new election to replace the outgoing MP.
Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle then put the question to MPs to decide whether to agree to the motion.
As it was backed by MPs, the motion became an Order for the Speaker, who in turn issues a Warrant to the Clerk of the Crown who then sends the writ to the Returning Officer.
The by-election has to be held between 21 and 27 working days from the issuing of the writ.
Sir Keir will then leave the House of Commons, once a new MP has been elected to replace him.
Candidates to stand for Labour in the by-election had until Friday to apply.
Setting out the timetable for the candidate selection, the Labour Party said on its website that applications opened on Tuesday, and will close at noon on September 4.
Due diligence checks and interviews to whittle down the candidate list were taking place on Monday.
Labour’s contender will be picked after hustings and a selection meeting on Wednesday September 9.
