Boozy karaoke, tearful aides checking Cabinet news & Keir T-shirts – what REALLY happened at Starmer’s pub send-off

KEIR Starmer’s pub send-off featured boozy karaoke and tearful aides wearing T-shirts supporting their boss, The Sun can reveal. The ex-PM led the knees-up on Monday alongside his wife Vic, their children, and a tight circle of loyalists in North London. Starmer clutching a pint at his local in North London Credit: no credit Rachel Reeves laughing with aides Credit: no credit A number of aides sported custom-made T-shirts featuring the former PM’s face alongside the slogan “Starmer Solid” – the affectionate moniker coined for his fiercest backbench allies. One woman, pictured next to Sir Keir’s former press aide George Mason, wore a T-shirt with the writing “sparkle with Starmer” on it. Sign up for the Politics newsletter Thank you! Fresh from the chopping block, former ministers downed glasses of white wine and traded gossip with anxious aides. And staffers and ex-No 10 officials are understood to have partied well into the night. Former colleagues made no secret of their support for Starmer Credit: no credit The former PM drowning his sorrows after stepping out of Britain’s biggest job Credit: no credit Many eventually retreated to the pub’s upstairs karaoke room to belt out their favourite anthems long after their former boss had gone home. Earlier, attendees were seen frantically refreshing Twitter to see who had seized their former offices in Burnham’s swift reshuffle. But ex-ministers such as Reeves were largely seen in good spirits, laughing alongside aides as they downed drinks. “It was a weird mix of anger and sadness”, one person there told The Sun. Most read in The Sun “I think everyone was taken aback by just how big and brutal the purge was.” Another said: “It is a massacre by the Manchester Mafia. They are running No10 now.” Starmer had made a beeline for a pub in Kentish Town with loyalists including Rachel Reeves hours after handing over the keys to No10 to Burnham. Before long, a steady stream of the freshly deposed arrived to join the fray which ended up lasting long into the night. Defeated big hitters including Darren Jones, Jo Stevens, and Richard Hermer all filtered into the pub, each greeted by a wall of cheers from dozens of assembled Labour staffers. The pub’s walls were plastered with behind-the-scenes photographs capturing Sir Keir’s two tumultuous years in Downing Street, serving as a backdrop to the afternoon’s post-mortem. As the sun began to fade, Sir Keir made his exit hand-in-hand with Vic, raising a farewell bouquet of flowers high into the air like a trophy to a final round of applause. But the ex-Prime Minister’s departure did little to stem the revelry as the night ended in boozy karaoke. Earlier, Sir Keir had delivered a short goodbye speech outside Downing Street and travelled to Buckingham Palace to formally resign to King Charles, ending his two tumultuous years in office. He said serving as Prime Minister had been “the privilege of my life” and insisted he left office “with good grace and with a smile”. Sir Keir reflected on taking Labour from its crushing 2019 election defeat to a landslide victory in 2024, declaring: “My work is done.” Starmer had swept into No10 with a landslide majority in 2024, promising to restore stability after years of Conservative rule. But less than two years later, his authority had been battered by Peter Mandelson’s appointment as US ambassador, Cabinet resignations and internal Labour rows. Sir Keir announced he would step aside last month after Mr Burnham’s stonking victory in the Makerfield by-election, which paved the way for his unopposed win in the Labour leadership.