Sir Keir Starmer said he decided to quit No 10 to prevent the government from “imploding into some massive fight”.
Giving his final interview as prime minister, Sir Keir also said he disagrees with his former top aide that his team did not prepare enough for coming into government.
Former chief of staff Morgan McSweeney told the BBC earlier this month that he thought Labour “didn’t prepare enough for what kind of world we were going to be in”, ahead of the 2024 general election.
“I agree with Morgan on many things but not that,” the outgoing prime minister said.
Speaking to Sky News just days before Andy Burnham enters Downing Street, Sir Keir listed what he sees as his key successes in office, pointing to the economy, reduced NHS waiting lists and efforts to tackle child poverty.
“That’s not just a plan. That is a plan being implemented. None of these things fall from the sky,” he said.
Sir Keir said he will feel “big pride” in all that he has achieved as prime minister when he walks out of No 10 on Monday for the last time and that the country has got its “mojo” back internationally since he took over as PM.
“I’ve always felt the UK had a huge amount to offer on the international stage, we’re pragmatists, we’re leaders,” he said.
“We’re able to bridge and bring together. We’d lost that in the last decade and we’ve got it back. We’ve got our mojo back as a country.”
The prime minister added that it is a “very difficult decision to decide to end your political career” after his resignation in the wake of dire local election results and a by-election win for Mr Burnham that cleared his path to No 10.
He said he quit to ensure an “orderly transition”, saying: “I felt that it was right to apply the same principles I’ve always applied, which is, what is in the best interest of the country? How do I ensure that we don’t implode into some massive fight in government?”
More than 100 Labour MPs had urged the prime minister to quit and four ministers resigned following a disastrous set of local election results and an increasingly turbulent first two years in office.
But Sir Keir said he believed Labour could win the next election under Mr Burnham, insisting: “We’ve built the foundation for this now. And Labour can go on and win that election, I think will go on and win that election.
“I’m proud to hand over the party in good shape to Andy Burnham, and hand over the country in good shape to Andy Burnham. I will support him all the way.”
