Sir Keir Starmer is to stand down as MP for Holborn and St Pancras to take up what he has described as a role in international affairs, despite earlier pledges to stay in the House of Commons until the next general election, Daily Mail columnist Jan Moir writes.
Moir argues that nothing in Starmer's record qualifies him for the international statesman role he has set for himself. She points to his two years as British Prime Minister, including the moment he mistook an interpreter for the president of South Korea and when President Trump made him raise his hand in the air. She also cites his attempt to give away the Chagos Islands, his failure to establish a unified stance on the Israel-Gaza conflict, and his appointment of Peter Mandelson as Britain's ambassador to the United States.
Starmer's departure has triggered a by-election in Holborn and St Pancras, a seat Moir says his party could lose to the Green Party's Zack Polanski.
Other leaders who quit after power
Moir compares Starmer's decision to a string of other former leaders. She notes David Cameron vowed to see through whatever result the Brexit referendum delivered before resigning shortly afterwards, and that Tony Blair went on to make millions after leaving office. Boris Johnson left the Commons within a year of losing power, Liz Truss was voted out by her own electorate, and Rishi Sunak has stayed on as an MP.
Nicola Sturgeon's exit and Scotland's finances
The column also revisits former First Minister of Scotland and SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon, who left high office saying she wanted to spend more time with her nieces and nephews. Moir writes that Sturgeon has since left Scotland with a fiscal deficit of £25billion and her husband in jail, while reinventing herself as a London-based writer weighing up her first novel. Moir wrote that the gist of a message Sturgeon posted on Instagram this week was: "I won't forgive myself if I don't at least try."
Nicole Kidman's Versace dress
Elsewhere in the column, Moir praises Nicole Kidman's black lace Versace dress, worn with a matching choker to the Los Angeles premiere of Practical Magic 2 this week. The outfit was the debut design by the label's new creative director, Pieter Mulier, a former architect appointed to the role in February.
Moir writes that the dress "marries saloon-girl chic with power-woman grit," calling it seductive, classy and entirely appropriate on the 59-year-old actress.
Lindsay Clancy murder trial
The column turns to the trial of Lindsay Clancy, a 36-year-old former nurse charged with three counts of first-degree murder over the deaths of her three children in Massachusetts. Clancy does not dispute strangling her two sons and daughter in the family home before slashing her wrists and jumping from a first-floor window, an act that left her in a wheelchair. She has been held in a mental health hospital since 2023.
Her lawyer argues she was suffering from postpartum psychosis and could not distinguish right from wrong, while prosecutors say she made a calculated decision to kill her children. At the time of writing the jury had been deadlocked for nearly a week. Under US law a verdict must be unanimous and beyond reasonable doubt, unlike the UK system, and if jurors cannot agree the judge can declare a mistrial, sending Clancy back to the mental health facility on the same charges.
Moir criticizes the public reaction to the trial, noting that one "true crime follower" was arrested for photographing the jury and that a journalist was fired by her magazine for giggling and winking in court.
Just Stop Oil protesters return
Just Stop Oil protesters resurfaced this week after 17 months away, with dozens arrested after gluing themselves to a carriageway near Parliament Square. The protest came as Prime Minister Burnham was due to decide whether to allow drilling on the Jackdaw and Rosebank gas and oil fields in the North Sea.
After being detained by the Metropolitan Police, protesters complained about what they called "draconian" bail conditions, saying their train tickets, senior rail cards and Oyster cards were confiscated and that they were released between 3am and 5am with no means of communication or way home.
Spain's footballers and egg freezing
The column also addresses an agreement by Spain's women's football association to pay for players to freeze their eggs, giving national team members access to fertility treatment so they can pursue their careers while keeping the option of motherhood later. Moir writes that while she understands the sentiment, encouraging women to believe they can have everything is, in her view, irresponsible.
