Starmer nearly quit after Hartlepool by-election defeat, says new biography

Sir Keir Starmer considered resigning after the crushing defeat in the Hartlepool by-election in 2021, according to a new biography of the Labour leader.

Nearly two and a half years later, Sir Keir is now tipped to become the next prime minister with a poll lead far ahead of Rishi Sunak’s Tories.

But the by-election loss in May 2021 in the Co Durham constituency was a bitter blow to Sir Keir and his top team, as the party had held the seat since it was created in 1974.

A new book on the Labour leader, serialised in The Times, suggests that the Holborn and St Pancras MP told close aides in the immediate wake of the by-election that he was going to quit, before being persuaded otherwise.

Chris Ward, a former close aide, told biographer Tom Baldwin: “Keir kept saying that he felt he would have to go, that the result showed the party was going backwards and he saw it as a personal rejection.

“I told him it was far too soon for that kind of thing, but it was a rocky few hours.”

Sir Keir, who is quoted in the book, reflected on the defeat.

“I’m not fulfilling some lifelong dream here. I could happily work in the bookshop or something,” he says.

According to the book, Sir Keir’s wife Vic was among those who urged him not to act too hastily.

Another key figure who helped keep Sir Keir in his post was Morgan McSweeney, who remains Labour’s highly influential director of campaigns.