Keir Starmer announced his intention to resign as Britain’s prime minister in a short speech on Monday morning.
Apart from the rain which poured down on his predecessor, Rishi Sunak, the scene was reminiscent of that which unfolded just under two years ago when the Conservative prime minister resigned.
Starmer’s speech was a short one, delivered minutes after the lectern had been placed a few feet in front of the door at No 10 as a phalanx of cameras faced him.
To Starmer’s right can be seen a group that had started to assemble before he stepped out of No 10 with his wife, Victoria, at 9.30am. The group was initially made up of special advisers in his government who were then joined by ministers.
What the picture does not capture is the sound of the Anthem of Europe, also known as Ode to Joy, which was blasted out from elsewhere in Whitehall by the anti-Brexit campaigner Steve Bray.
“Walking up this street two years ago was the proudest moment of my life,” said Starmer, as he started a short speech delivered from behind the lectern, which bore the UK government’s coat of arms.
Announcing his intention to resign but stay until his successor was in place, Starmer finally accepted that the pressure for him to quit, from his own MPs and cabinet, had become unavoidable. “The question my party is asking now is whether I am best placed to lead us into the next general election. I have heard the answer of my parliamentary party to that question. And I accept that answer with good grace,” he said.
It lasted about six minutes, with the Labour leader managing to maintain his composure until the last few lines, when he grew visibly emotional as he paid tribute to his wife and children.
Approximately 100 members of the media had started to arrive from early morning on Downing Street. Among the first were broadcasters and photographers who set up, as is customary, a few feet away from the prime minister. They were soon joined by Westminster correspondents and political editors.
Key backroom staff from Downing Street who have worked alongside Starmer as he came under heavy pressure over recent months were in the crowd who gathered to watch. They included John Stevens, No 10’s head of political media and a former political editor at the Daily Mirror, who can be seen at the front in suit and open-necked white shirt.
To his immediate right is Tessa Tyler Todd, one of the prime minister’s special advisers, while standing on his left is Liz Bates, a former Sky News journalist who is special adviser to Steve Reed, the local government secretary and a key Starmer ally.
The deputy prime minister, David Lammy, and the chief secretary to the prime minister, Darren Jones, both wearing red ties, were the two most senior members of the cabinet to take up positions in the crowd. Jones has long been one of Starmer’s closest cabinet allies.
Others included Oliver Longworth, Reed’s chief of staff, who can be seen in sunglasses and towering over others a few paces over the left shoulder of Jones. Standing behind Longworth is Starmer’s son.
MPs included Abena Oppong-Asare, the MP for Erith and Thamesmead, wearing a floral dress at the front of the group. As Starmer’s parliamentary private secretary since September last year, she has had the job of being the prime minister’s “eyes and ears” in the Commons.
Victoria Starmer, the prime minister’s wife, stood at the edge of the group, beside the attorney general, Richard Hermer KC, in a suit and dark tie.
Immediately to his right was Jenny Chapman, the UK development minister and a longtime friend and ally of Starmer. She was prominent in giving interviews to the media at Downing Street after the speech.
Standing just behind Hermer (and with his face obscured in this photo) was Ben Nunn, the chief of staff to the chancellor, Rachel Reeves. Nunn, who worked for Starmer while Labour was in opposition, has also been one of the prime minister’s most trusted aides and played a key role linking the No 10 and No 11 operations.
