Keir Starmer won’t stand for leader – despite online campaign

New MP Keir Starmer has poured cold water on suggestions he could run for Labour leader – saying the party needs some “with more political experience”.

The former Director of Public Prosecutions has only been an MP for a week, but that did not stop supporters setting up an online campaign encouraging him to run for the top job. However, this morning he said he was “flattered” by the supporters, but that he would not be running:

Starmer was selected to take on Frank Dobson’s old inner-London seat Holborn & St Pancras, and was elected with a majority of over 17,000. The ‘Keir for Leader’ campaign may have been a long-shot from the outset, but it has attracted wide interest – former London Mayor Ken Livingstone said it showed why a wider field was needed in the contest:

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