Starmer had previously said he would seek to serve out his term as a backbench MP, and his decision to quit will spark a byelection. The Green party leader, Zack Polanski, is understood to be considering a run for the central London<\/a> seat.<\/p>\n Starmer told the paper: \u201cIt 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<\/a> government.<\/p>\n \u201cI will now focus on other things and that will be international affairs including defence, security, trade and technology in a fast-changing world. I will also continue, as I have done for a long time now with others, work on combating violence against women and girls.\u201d<\/p>\n Starmer\u2019s seat, long seen as a safe Labour hold, is likely to be targeted by the Greens, potentially for Polanski who is a London assembly member. \u201cZack has always made it clear he would like to be a London MP. London has been his home for over 20 years,\u201d a Green party spokesperson said.<\/p>\n The independent leftwing candidate Andrew Feinstein was Starmer\u2019s closest challenger at the last election. Feinstein, who had been close to Jeremy Corbyn, was then involved in Your Party but resigned amid disagreements over party finances<\/a>.<\/p>\n Starmer told the New Journal he had decided over the summer that he wanted to focus on international work and that meant he had to step down as an MP.<\/p>\n \u201cI think once you\u2019ve been prime minister, it\u2019s important to answer the question: what are you going to do next? Having decided I\u2019m going to concentrate on international affairs, I think it\u2019s right to step down,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Starmer said he was proud of his work in the constituency since 2015 as well as his achievements as prime minister. \u201cI want to thank all of those I was privileged to work with in the constituency on issues that matter hugely: affordable housing, first-class education and the work we did on knife crime through the Camden youth support, which was really, really important,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
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