Sir Keir Starmer's 'lasting love' for Northern Ireland

Where Northern Ireland was concerned Sir Keir Starmer enjoyed one big advantage denied to his four immediate predecessors.

He did not have to spend any time waking Stormont from one of its frequent periods of suspension.

It was already back from its latest enforced period of inactivity - as a result of the Democratic Unionist Party's (DUP) boycott over the Northern Ireland Protocol - by the time he took office and there it remained until his downfall.

It meant no flights to Belfast to knock heads together, not that many of those Conservative prime ministers - May, Johnson, Truss and Sunak - spent a lot of time doing that anyway.

Berating Rishi Sunak at the Labour Conference in 2023, the then Shadow NI Secretary Hilary Benn said: "Where is he? If Keir Starmer was prime minister he'd be there working hard to find a way forward."

Would he?

It was never put to the test.

Starmer was already familiar with Northern Ireland.

From 2003 until 2008, he was human rights adviser to the Northern Ireland Policing Board which, he said, gave him a "lasting love of Northern Ireland".

Once in office, and without any pressing worries over the future of devolution, where the troublesome island on Britain's doorstep was concerned, Starmer could spend his time trying to rebuild relations with the Irish government.

They were at a very low ebb because of Brexit and the Conservative government's unpopular Legacy Act offering conditional immunity for Troubles-related crimes.

As far as the Irish was concerned he had two main attractive qualities. As a Labour politician he had no part in Brexit and, also, he wasn't a Tory.

By the time he was in Downing Street he had already promised to repeal the legacy legislation having been ambushed by a member of the audience during at an event in Queen's University, Belfast.

Once in office Labour took its time fulfilling the promise until a workable alternative was found.

They eventually came up with a new law which includes a new Legacy Commission born out of the Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery (ICRIR) which will have independent oversight as well as a dedicated unit from the Irish police force, An Garda Síochána.

However, a package of so-called "protections" for British Army veterans caused unease among nationalists and the Irish government which at the time of writing was still causing concern.

Either way the Irish government has not yet withdrawn its inter-state legal case against the United Kingdom at the European Court of Human Rights.

Nevertheless under the Starmer government there has been a much-vaunted "reset" of relations between London and Dublin.

In March 2025 they held the first of what was to be an annual summit during which Sir Keir said the two countries had "turned a page on the turbulent years" in their relationship.

The Taosieach, (Irish PM), Micheál Martin said he appreciated the prime minister's "pro-activity" in resetting relations after years of difficulties with the Conservatives over Brexit.

As for a possible border poll in 2021 Starmer told BBC News NI he would campaign for Northern Ireland to remain part of the UK in the event of a vote on Irish reunification in his lifetime.

His comments were criticised by his predecessor Jeremy Corbyn.

Sir Keir would later rule out calling such a poll if he became prime minister telling BBC NI:"I don't think we're anywhere near that kind of question. It's absolutely hypothetical. It's not even on the horizon."

It was another thing never put to the test.

In the end Starmer's ousting had nothing to do with the future of Northern Ireland.

It had everything to do with his power draining away in the wake of Andy Burnham's election to Westminster.