Keir Starmer “really hated” Beergate and was “carrying a burden” throughout, the Labour leader has revealed.
He said he consulted with his wife Vic before publicly pledging - after days of speculation - to stand down if Durham Police found he broke lockdown rules.
The former Director of Public Prosecutions was found with no case to answer over a beer and meal he had with party activists during the third lockdown in 2021.
He told Sky News’ Political Editor Beth Rigby: “I really hated it, if I'm honest.
“Being subject to a criminal investigation, when you've been the Director of Public Prosecutions, I hated it.
“And I’m not like other people in many respects, who may say, well, it doesn't really matter.
“It really meant a lot to me. It was a burden that I was carrying.
“I’m trying not to show it of course. But it was, you know, it was there every day.
“And of course, I was massively pleased when the decision came through, completely exonerated me.”
He said he was criticised for taking days to make the decision to step down if he was fined.
But he said: “Everyone said why didn’t you get on with it. Because I put my whole career on the line.
“Everything I've ever done, been a lawyer, I've worked in Northern Ireland, I've been Director of Public Prosecutions, been an MP, leader of the Labour Party. I put all of that on the line.
“And I wasn't going to do that until I sat down as I did on that Sunday, and talked it through with Vic, my wife.”
In a wide-ranging interview, Sir Keir also said he would never join a picket line as a Labour PM.
“Of course it doesn’t mean I don't understand why people are struggling and why they might want to take strike action. I completely understand,” he said.
But after a row with the Labour left he added: “Of course a Prime Minister can’t go on a picket line.
“The Prime Minister has to run the country has to bring people together around the negotiating table.
“But that can't be and shouldn't be translated into a lack of understanding, to just how much people are struggling after 10 years of Tory failure on the economy.”
Elsewhere Sir Keir stopped short of calling Boris Johnson “immoral” - but said “I don't think he's honest. I don’t think he’s trustworthy and trustworthy, he drags everybody down.”
And he revealed his daughter has told him she will not move into Downing Street with him if he becomes Prime Minister.
He said: “Well, our little girl said, if you win an election, are you going to Downing Street Daddy? I said yes.
“And she said to me, you know, I'm not coming.”
He added: “I don't want to be I don't want to be that person who in 10 years time looks back and says I wish I'd spent more time with my kids.
“Which is why we're so careful about Friday night, taking my son to his kickboxing on a Saturday morning, our daughter goes swimming, doing the things that dad should do.
“It's not easy. It’s much more complicated than it was.”
