India, July 5 -- Keir Starmer has spoken of his decision to resign as Labour Party leader and British Prime Minister as an "intensely personal" one, which he took with his wife and children at a family weekend away.

In his first interview since his Downing Street statement that fired the starting gun for a leadership election, Starmer told the BBC on Friday evening that he would complete his current term as a central London member of Parliament.

But, while on the backbenches of Parliament, the 63-year-old politician plans on "keeping his mouth shut" to allow his successor - widely expected to be former Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham - to get on with the job.

"I grappled with what was the best thing to do for me, for the country,...