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Sir Keir Rodney Starmer KCB KC (/ˈkɪər/ ⓘ; born 2 September 1962) is a British politician and barrister who has been the Leader of the Opposition and Leader of the Labour Party since 2020. He was Member of Parliament (MP) for Holborn and St Pancras from 2015 to 2024, and was previously Director of Public Prosecutions from 2008 to 2013. He ideologically identifies as a progressive and as a centrist.
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Keir Starmer
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Official portrait, 2017
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| Leader of the Opposition | |||||||||||||
| Assumed office 4 April 2020 | |||||||||||||
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| Prime Minister |
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| Deputy | Angela Rayner | ||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Jeremy Corbyn | ||||||||||||
| Leader of the Labour Party | |||||||||||||
| Assumed office 4 April 2020 | |||||||||||||
| Deputy | Angela Rayner | ||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Jeremy Corbyn | ||||||||||||
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| In office 7 May 2015 – 30 May 2024^ | |||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Frank Dobson | ||||||||||||
| Majority | 27,763 (48.9%) | ||||||||||||
| Director of Public Prosecutions | |||||||||||||
| In office 1 November 2008 – 1 November 2013 | |||||||||||||
| Appointed by | Patricia Scotland | ||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Ken Macdonald | ||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Alison Saunders | ||||||||||||
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| Born | Keir Rodney Starmer (1962-09-02) 2 September 1962 (age 61) London, England | ||||||||||||
| Political party | Labour | ||||||||||||
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Victoria Alexander (m. 2007) | ||||||||||||
| Children | 2 | ||||||||||||
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| Website | keirstarmer | ||||||||||||
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Starmer was born in London and raised in Surrey, where he attended the selective state Reigate Grammar School, which became a private school while he was a student. He was politically active from an early age, joining the Labour Party Young Socialists at the age of 16. Starmer graduated with a Bachelor of Laws degree from the University of Leeds in 1985 and gained a postgraduate Bachelor of Civil Law degree at St Edmund Hall at the University of Oxford in 1986. After being called to the bar, Starmer practised predominantly in criminal defence work, specialising in human rights. He served as a human rights adviser to the Northern Ireland Policing Board and was appointed a Queen's Counsel in 2002, later citing his work on policing in Northern Ireland as being a key influence on his decision to pursue a political career. During his time as Director of Public Prosecutions, Starmer dealt with a number of major cases including the Stephen Lawrence murder case. He was appointed Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath (KCB) in the 2014 New Year Honours for services to law and criminal justice.
Starmer was elected to the House of Commons at the 2015 general election. As a backbencher, Starmer supported the unsuccessful Britain Stronger in Europe campaign in the 2016 European Union membership referendum. He was appointed Shadow Minister for ImmigrationbyJeremy Corbyn, but resigned from this role in June 2016 as part of the wider shadow cabinet resignations in protest of Corbyn's leadership. Starmer accepted a new post under Corbyn that year as Shadow Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, and advocated a proposed second referendum on Brexit. Following Corbyn's resignation after the party lost the 2019 general election, Starmer won the 2020 party leadership election to succeed him on a left-wing platform.
Under his leadership, Starmer has repositioned the party away from the left and toward the political centre. He has emphasised the importance of eliminating antisemitism within the party, which had been a controversial issue during Corbyn's leadership. His supporters have praised him for his antisemitism reforms and helping make the party look more credible than it did during the previous leadership, while his critics have accused him of unfairly treating leftist Labour members.[1][2] In 2023, Starmer set out five missions for a Labour government, targeting issues such as economic growth, health, clean energy, crime, and education. Starmer has led his party in the 2024 general election, which has focused on the prospect of a change of government.
Keir Rodney Starmer was born on 2 September 1962 in Southwark, London.[3][4] He grew up in the town of Oxted in Surrey.[5][6][7] He was the second of the four children of Josephine (née Baker), a nurse, and Rodney Starmer, a toolmaker.[7][8] His mother had Still's disease.[9][10] His parents were Labour Party supporters, and reportedly named him after the party's first parliamentary leader, Keir Hardie,[11][12] though Starmer said in 2015 that he did not know whether this is true.[13] He passed the 11-plus examination and gained entry to Reigate Grammar School, then a voluntary aided selective grammar school.[12] The school was converted into an independent fee-paying school in 1976, while he was a student. He was exempt from paying fees until the age of 16, and his sixth-form study fees were paid by a bursary he received from the private school's charity.[14][15][16] Among his classmates were the musician Norman Cook, alongside whom Starmer took violin lessons; Andrew Cooper, who went on to become a Conservative peer; and the future conservative journalist Andrew Sullivan. According to Starmer, he and Sullivan "fought over everything ... Politics, religion. You name it."[7]
In his teenage years, Starmer was active in Labour politics; he was a member of the Labour Party Young Socialists at the age of 16.[8][7] He was a junior exhibitioner at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama until the age of 18, and played the flute, piano, recorder, and violin.[17] In the early 1980s, Starmer was caught by police illegally selling ice creams while trying to raise money during a holiday to the French Riviera. He escaped the incident without punishment, beyond the ice creams being confiscated.[18][19] Starmer studied law at the University of Leeds, becoming a member of the university's Labour Club and graduating with first class honours and a Bachelor of Laws (LLB) degree in 1985, becoming the first member of his family to graduate.[11][20] He undertook postgraduate studiesatSt Edmund Hall, Oxford, graduating from the University of Oxford as a Bachelor of Civil Law (BCL) in 1986.[21][11] From 1986 to 1987, Starmer served as the editor of Socialist Alternatives, a Trotskyist radical magazine. The magazine was produced by an organisation under the same name, which represented the British section of the International Revolutionary Marxist Tendency (IRMT).[22][23]
Starmer became a barrister in 1987 at the Middle Temple, becoming a bencher there in 2009.[3] He served as a legal officer for the campaign group Liberty until 1990.[11] Starmer was a member of Doughty Street Chambers from 1990 onwards, primarily working on human rights issues.[9][11] He was called to the bar in several Caribbean countries,[24] where he defended convicts sentenced to the death penalty.[7] Starmer assisted Helen Steel and David Morris in the McLibel case, in the trial and appeal in English courts, also represented them at the European court.[25] Starmer was appointed Queen's Counsel on 9 April 2002, aged 39.[26] In the same year, he became joint head of Doughty Street Chambers.
Starmer served as a human rights adviser to the Northern Ireland Policing Board and the Association of Chief Police Officers, and was also a member of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office's death penalty advisory panel from 2002 to 2008.[3][11] The Northern Ireland board was an important part of bringing communities together following the Good Friday Agreement, and Starmer later cited his work on policing in Northern Ireland as being a key influence on his decision to pursue a political career: "Some of the things I thought that needed to change in police services we achieved more quickly than we achieved in strategic litigation ... I came better to understand how you can change by being inside and getting the trust of people".[27] During the New Labour governments, Starmer marched and authored legal opinions against the Iraq War, stating in 2015 that he believed that the war was "not lawful under international law because there was no UN resolution expressly authorising it."[28][7]
In July 2008, Patricia Scotland, Attorney General for England and Wales, named Starmer as the new head of the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) and Director of Public Prosecutions. He took over from Ken Macdonald, who publicly welcomed the appointment, on 1 November 2008.[11][12] Starmer was considered to be bringing a focus on human rights into the legal system.[11] In 2011, he introduced reforms that included the "first test paperless hearing".[29] During his time in the role, Starmer dealt with a number of major cases including helping to bring the two men accused of murdering Stephen Lawrence to justice.[30]
In February 2010, Starmer announced the CPS's decision to prosecute three Labour MPs and a Conservative peer for offences relating to false accounting in the aftermath of the parliamentary expenses scandal, who were all found guilty.[31][32] During the 2011 England riots, Starmer prioritised rapid prosecutions of rioters over long sentences, which he later thought had helped to bring "the situation back under control".[33][34] In February 2012, Starmer announced that Cameron–Clegg coalition cabinet member Chris Huhne would be prosecuted for perverting the course of justice, saying in relation to the case that "[w]here there is sufficient evidence we do not shy away from prosecuting politicians".[35]
In 2013, Starmer announced changes to how sexual abuse investigations are handled in the wake of the Jimmy Savile sexual abuse scandal and Operation Yewtree police investigation, including a panel to review historic complaints.[36][37][38] In April 2014, Starmer recommended making the criminal justice system fit for victims.[39] In 2022, then prime minister Boris Johnson falsely blamed Starmer for Savile not being prosecuted. Starmer was DPP in the years immediately prior to Savile's death but there is no evidence he was involved in the decision to not have him prosecuted.[40] Johnson defended his comments but conceded that Starmer "had nothing to do personally with those decisions" by the CPS not to investigate Savile.[41]
Starmer stepped down as Director of Public Prosecutions in November 2013, and was replaced by Alison Saunders.[42][43] From 2011 to 2014, Starmer received honorary degrees from several universities, and he was appointed Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath (KCB) by Charles, Prince of Wales in the 2014 New Year Honours for services to law and criminal justice.[44]
Starmer was selected in December 2014 to be the Labour Party's prospective parliamentary candidate for the Labour UK constituencyofHolborn and St Pancras, a safe seat, following the decision of the sitting MP Frank Dobson to retire.[45] Starmer was elected at the 2015 general election with a majority of 17,048.[46] He was re-elected at the 2017 general election with an increased majority of 30,509, and re-elected again at the 2019 general election but with a reduced majority of 27,763. In June 2024, Starmer was reselected as the Labour candidate for Holborn and St Pancras at the 2024 general election.
Starmer made his maiden speech in the House of Commons on 28 May 2015, in which he paid tribute to his predecessor, saying "Widely respected and widely regarded, he served the people of Holborn and St Pancras for 36 years. Although I doubt I will clock up 36 years, I intend to follow in Frank Dobson’s footsteps—albeit my jokes are likely to seem tame when compared with his, and I might give the beard a miss."[47] As a backbencher, Starmer supported the unsuccessful Britain Stronger in Europe campaign in the 2016 European Union membership referendum.[48] He became a member of the parliamentarian groups Labour Friends of Israel and Labour Friends of Palestine and the Middle East.[49]
Starmer was urged by a number of activists to stand in the 2015 Labour Party leadership election following the resignation of Ed MilibandasLeader of the Labour Party after the party lost the 2015 general election; he ruled this out, citing his relative lack of political experience.[50][51] During the leadership election, Starmer supported Andy Burnham, who finished second to Jeremy Corbyn.[52]
Starmer was appointed to the Corbyn shadow cabinetasShadow Minister for Immigration; part of the ministerial team for Burnham. In June 2016, Starmer resigned from this role as part of the widespread shadow cabinet resignations in protest at Corbyn's leadership; in his resignation letter he wrote that it was "simply untenable now to suggest we can offer an effective opposition without a change of leader".[53][54] Following Corbyn's win in the 2016 Labour Party leadership election against Owen Smith in September, Starmer accepted a new post under Corbyn as Shadow Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, replacing Emily Thornberry.[55] On taking up the role, Starmer resigned from a consultancy position with the law firm specialising in human rights, Mishcon de Reya, that had acted for Gina Millerinbringing legal proceedings against the government.[56]
In his role as Shadow Brexit Secretary, Starmer questioned the government's destination for the UK outside of the European Union (EU), as well as calling for Brexit plans to be made public. On 6 December 2016, the prime minister Theresa May confirmed the publication of Brexit plans, in what some considered a victory for Starmer.[57] He argued that the government would be needed to pass a large number of new laws quickly, or risk what he called an "unsustainable legal vacuum", if Britain left the EU without a deal.[58] At the Labour Party Conference in September 2018, Starmer advocated for a referendum on the Brexit withdrawal agreement, saying that "our options must include campaigning for a public vote, and nobody is ruling out remain as an option".[59]
In January 2017, Starmer called for a reform to the EU free movement rules following Brexit and for a "fundamental rethink of immigration rules from start to finish".[60] In his first interview after being appointed to the shadow cabinet, Starmer said that immigration should be reduced after Britain left the EU by "making sure we have the skills in this country".[61] Starmer had told Politico in November 2016 that negotiations with the EU should start on the understanding that there must be "some change" to freedom of movement rules, given that remaining in the EU single market is no longer a reality.[62]
In May 2017, Starmer said that "free movement has to go" but that it was important to allow EU citizens to migrate to the UK once they had a job offer, given the importance of immigration for the UK's economy.[63] Starmer was a supporter of a proposed second referendum on Brexit.[64] This position was included as a Labour Party policy in the party's 2019 general election manifesto.[65] In the 2019 general election, Labour suffered its fourth consecutive general election defeat and worst election defeat since 1935, with the Conservative Party earning an 80-seat majority.[66][67] Following the party's defeat at the 2019 election, Corbyn announced that he would stand down as Leader of the Labour Party.[68] Starmer began to distance himself from Corbyn's leadership and many of the policies he put forward at the election, revealing in 2024 that he was "certain that we would lose the 2019 election".[69]
On 4 January 2020, Starmer announced his candidacy for the 2020 Labour Party leadership election.[70][71][72] By 8 January, it was reported that he had gained enough nominations from Labour MPs and MEPs to get onto the ballot paper, and that the trade union Unison was backing him. Unison, with 1.3 million members, said Starmer was the best placed candidate to unite the party and regain public trust.[73] He also gained support from former Labour Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Mayor of London Sadiq Khan.[74]
During the leadership election, Starmer ran a left-wing platform. He positioned himself in opposition to austerity, stating that Corbyn was "right" to position Labour as the "party of anti-austerity".[75][76] He indicated he will continue with the Labour policy of scrapping tuition fees as well as pledging "common ownership" of rail, mail, energy and water companies and called for ending outsourcing in the NHS, local governments and the justice system.[77] Starmer was announced as the winner of the leadership contest on 4 April 2020, defeating rivals Rebecca Long-Bailey and Lisa Nandy, with 56.2% of the vote in the first round,[78] and subsequently became Leader of the Opposition.[79][80] In his acceptance speech, Starmer said it was "the honour and the privilege of my life" to be elected as leader of the Labour Party and said he would "lead this great party into a new era, with confidence and with hope so that when the time comes, we can serve our country again in government."[81][82]
Having become the Leader of the Opposition amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Starmer said he would refrain from "scoring party political points" and would work with Boris Johnson's government "in the national interest". He later became more critical of the government's response to the pandemic following the Partygate scandal.[83] Starmer also criticised Johnson's government, as well as the governments of his successors Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak, for issues such as the Chris Pincher scandal and subsequent government crisis, the economic crisis resulting from the 2022 mini-budget and subsequent government crisis, the cost of living crisis and the National Health Service strikes and other industrial disputes and strikes. Amid the historic number of ministers resigning from Johnson's government in July 2022, Starmer proposed a vote of no confidence in Johnson's government, stating that Johnson could not be allowed to remain in office given the large-scale revolt by his own ministers.[84][85] Starmer's supporters have praised him for his antisemitism reforms and helping make the Labour Party look more credible than it did during the previous leadership, which in the view of Starmer, has put the party back in the service of working people, while his critics have accused him of unfairly treating leftist Labour members.[1][2]
Following past accusations of antisemitism in the party during Corbyn's tenure, Starmer pledged to end antisemitism in the party during his acceptance speech, saying "Antisemitism has been a stain on our party. I have seen the grief that it's brought to so many Jewish communities. On behalf of the Labour Party, I am sorry. And I will tear out this poison by its roots and judge success by the return of Jewish members and those who felt that they could no longer support us."[86][87]
In October 2020, following the release of the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC)'s report into antisemitism in the party, Starmer accepted its findings in full and apologised to Jews on behalf of the party.[88][89] The report said that there was "a culture within the party which, at best, did not do enough to prevent antisemitism and, at worst, could be seen to accept it".[90] The report also found that the party had broken equality laws due to the handling of antisemitism complaints.[90] Starmer added that the findings were "hard to read" and that it had "been a day of shame for the Labour Party".[90] Later that day, Corbyn said that the scale of antisemitism had been overstated for political reasons, and was suspended from the party. He was later expelled from the party after standing as an independent candidate for Islington North in the 2024 general election.[91]
In February 2023, Starmer's antisemitism reforms resulted in the party no longer being monitored by the EHRC.[92]
After the 7 October attacks which began the Israel–Hamas war, Starmer expressed support for Israel, condemned Hamas terrorism, and said, "This action by Hamas does nothing for Palestinians. And Israel must always have the right to defend her people."[93][94] In an interview with LBC on 11 October 2023, Starmer was asked whether it would be appropriate for Israel to totally cut off power and water supplies to the Gaza Strip, with Starmer replying that "I think that Israel does have that right" and that "obviously everything should be done within international law".[95][96] On 20 October, after criticism and resignations of Labour councillors, Starmer said that he only meant that Israel had the right to defend itself.[96][97] Starmer had said that a ceasefire would only benefit Hamas for future attacks, instead calling for a humanitarian pause to allow aid to reach Gaza.[98] As of 6 November 2023, 50 of Labour's councillors had resigned over the issue.[99]
On 16 November 2023, Starmer suffered a major rebellion when 56 of his MPs (including ten frontbenchers) defied a three-line whip in voting for a Scottish National Party (SNP) motion proposed by Stephen Flynn to support an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.[100][101] Prior to the vote, Starmer stated that Labour MPs with positions in his Shadow Cabinet would be sacked if they voted in favour of the ceasefire vote.[100] This then led to the loss of ten frontbenchers, including eight shadow ministers.[100] In December 2023, Starmer followed Sunak in changing his stance by calling for a "sustainable ceasefire" in relation to Gaza, which also came after the Foreign Secretary David Cameron's same change in position. Starmer stated his support for a "two-stage" "two-state solution".[102][103][104] The Labour Party under Starmer suspended several parliamentary candidates and MPs, including Graham Jones, Andy McDonald, Azhar Ali and Kate Osamor, for allegedly making anti-Semitic comments about Israel during the Israel-Hamas war, or for describing its conduct as genocide.[105][106] On 18 February 2024, Starmer called for a "ceasefire that lasts" and said it must "happen now", having previously refused to call for a ceasefire.[107][108][109]
Starmer's tenure has seen the party move closer towards the political centre.[110][111][112] Speaking at the party's annual conference in 2021, the first time Starmer addressed the annual conference in person since becoming the leader, he presented his focus on stronger economy and tougher stances on crime, repositioning the party away from the previous leadership.[113] By 2022, Starmer had dropped most of the socialist policies he advocated during his leadership run, including pledges made to nationalise water and energy, scrap tuition fees, and defend free movement within the EU.[114][115] Starmer responded to criticism in 2023 by stating that they remained "important statements of value and principle", but cited the COVID-19 pandemic, the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the economic crisis resulting from the 2022 mini-budget as having meant that these pledges have had to be adapted.[116]
Under Starmer's tenure, the party still supports the renationalisation of Britain's railways,[117] and has pledged to create a publicly owned energy company, Great British Energy, to "compete with private industry and promote clean energy", differentiated from full nationalisation of the energy industry as previously pledged.[118][119] In February 2023, Starmer set out five "national missions" as the basis for Labour's manifesto for the 2024 general election:[120] achieving the highest sustained growth in the G7 by the end of his first term,[121] establishing the UK as a "clean energy superpower" with zero-carbon electricity by 2030; enacting health and care reform, improving the justice system, and dismantling the barriers to opportunity" with education and childcare reforms.[121] Upon becoming Labour leader, he tasked Brown with recommending British constitutional reforms.[122] The report was published in 2022 and was endorsed and promoted by Starmer, and recommended the abolition of the House of Lords, extending greater powers to local councils and mayors, and deeper devolution to the countries of the United Kingdom.[123] In November 2022, Starmer said that he would strip politicians of the power to appoint people to the House of Lords in the first term of a Labour government,[124] adding that 'the public's faith in the political system had been undermined by successive Tory leaders handing peerages to "lackeys and donors"'.[125] Labour's 2024 election manifesto Change, however, did not recommend abolition to the House of Lords, instead committing only to removal of the remaining hereditary peers from the chamber, setting a mandatory retirement age of 80, and beginning a consultation on replacing the Lords with a "more representative" body.[126]
His Shadow Cabinet appointments included MPs associated with the various wings of the party. Angela Rayner was appointed deputy labour leader and shadow deputy prime minister, while Rachel Reeves and Yvette Cooper were appointed as shadow chancellor and shadow home secretary, respectively. Miliband was appointed shadow energy and climate secretary. Other notable appointments included David Lammyasshadow foreign secretary and Wes Streetingasshadow health secretary. A reshuffle of the Shadow Cabinet was undertaken in September 2023, which was described by the media as being dominated by Blairites and demoting MPs on the soft left.[127][128][129][130][131]
Starmer considered quitting after the party's mixed results in the 2021 local elections but later felt "vindicated" by his decision to stay on, saying "I did [consider quitting] because I didn't feel that I should be bigger than the party and that if I couldn't bring about the change, perhaps there should be a change. But actually, in the end, I reflected on it, talked to very many people and doubled down and determined, no, it is the change in the Labour Party we need.[132]
During Starmer's tenure, his party suffered the loss of a previously Labour seat in the 2021 Hartlepool by-election, followed by holds in the 2021 Batley and Spen by-election, 2022 Birmingham Erdington by-election and 2022 City of Chester by-election, and a gain from the Conservative Party in the 2022 Wakefield by-election. During the 2023 local elections, Labour gained more than 500 councillors and 22 councils, becoming the largest party in local government for the first time since 2002.[133] Labour made further gains in the 2024 local elections, including winning the West Midlands mayoral election.[134]
Since the end of 2021, Labour have maintained leads in opinion polling over the Conservatives,[135] often by very wide margins.[136] By mid-October 2022, Labour were recording polling leads such as 36% against the Conservatives.[137] In May 2024, Labour recorded their highest polling lead over the SNP in Scotland for a decade.[138] Starmer has maintained a consistent lead over Sunak in leadership opinion polls, albeit not as consistent as his party's lead.
A fairer, healthier, a more secure Britain, at the service of working people, with growth from every community. A Britain ready to restore that promise. The bond that reaches through the generations and says – this country will be better for your children. That is the change on offer on 4 July. That is our plan and I invite you all to join our mission to stop the chaos, turn the page and start to rebuild our country.
– Labour Manifesto Launch, 13 June 2024
Starmer has led his party in the 2024 general election, which he said was an "opportunity for change" and offered three reasons why voters should vote Labour, firstly to "stop the chaos", secondly『because it’s time for change』and thirdly because Labour have "a long-term plan to rebuild Britain" that "is ready to go, fully-costed and fully funded."[139] Projections four weeks before the vote indicated a landslide victory for Labour that would surpass the one achieved by Tony Blair at the 1997 general election.[140]
On 13 June, Starmer released the Labour Party manifesto Change, which focuses on economic growth, planning system reforms, infrastructure, what Starmer describes as ‘clean energy’, healthcare, education, childcare, and strengthening workers' rights.[141][142] It pledges a new publicly owned energy company, a 'Green Prosperity Plan', reducing patient waiting times in the NHS, and renationalisation of the railway network.[143] It includes wealth creation and 'pro-business and pro-worker' policies.[144] The manifesto also pledged to give votes to 16 year olds, reform the House of Lords, and to tax private schools, with money generated going into improving state education.[145][146]
Starmer's politics have been described as unclear and "hard to define".[147][148][149] When he was elected as Labour leader, Starmer was widely believed to belong to the soft left of the Labour Party.[150] However, he has since moved to the political centre-ground.[151][152] The term Starmerism has been coined to refer to Starmer's political ideology and his supporters have been called Starmerites.[153][154] In June 2023, Starmer gave an interview to Time where he was asked to define Starmerism:[155]
Recognizing that our economy needs to be fixed. Recognizing that [solving] climate change isn’t just an obligation; it’s the single biggest opportunity that we’ve got for our country going forward. Recognizing that public services need to be reformed, that every child and every place should have the best opportunities and that we need a safe environment, safe streets, et cetera.
In April 2023, Starmer gave an interview to The Economist on defining Starmerism.[154][156] In this interview, two main strands of Starmerism were identified.[156] The first strand focused on a critique of the British state for being too ineffective and over-centralised. The answer to this critique was to base governance on five main missions[broken anchor] to be followed over two terms of government; these missions would determine all government policy. The second strand was the adherence to an economic policy of "modern supply-side economics" based on expanding economic productivity by increasing participation in the labour market, mitigating the impact of Brexit and simplifying the construction planning process.[156]
Starmer has described the Labour Party as "deeply patriotic" and credits its most successful leaders, Clement Attlee, Harold Wilson, and Tony Blair, for policies "rooted in the everyday concerns of working people".[157] Starmer advocates a government based on "security, prosperity and respect". In a speech on 13 May 2023, Starmer stated that,
Don’t mistake me, the very best of progressive politics is found in our determination to push Britain forward. A hunger, an ambition, that we can seize the opportunities of tomorrow and make them work for working people. But this ambition must never become unmoored from working people’s need for stability, for order, security. The Conservative Party can no longer claim to be conservative. It conserves nothing we value — not our rivers and seas, not our NHS or BBC, not our families, not our nation. We must understand there are precious things – in our way of life, in our environment, in our communities – that it is our responsibility to protect and preserve and to pass on to future generations. If that sounds conservative, then let me tell you: I don’t care.
— Keir Starmer[158]
Starmer married Victoria Alexander in 2007.[159][160] Formerly a solicitor, Lady Starmer works in NHS occupational healthinCamden.[7][161]
The couple have two children, a boy born in 2008 and a girl born in 2010.[159][162] Starmer is an atheist; he chose to take a "solemn affirmation" (rather than an oath) of allegiance to the monarch.[163] Starmer has said while he does not believe in God, but believes in the power of faith to bring people together.[164] The family occasionally attend a liberal synagogue,[165] and he stated in a 2022 interview that his children are being brought up to know the Jewish faith and background of their maternal grandparents.[166]
Starmer is a pescatarian and his wife is a vegetarian. They raised their children as vegetarians until they were 10 years old, at which point they were given the option of eating meat.[167] In an interview during the 2024 general election, Starmer revealed the thing he feared the most about potentially becoming prime minister is the impact it would have on his children, due to their "difficult ages" and how it would have been easier if they were younger or older.[168]
Starmer is a keen footballer, having played for Homerton Academicals, a north London amateur team,[12] and supports Premier League side Arsenal FC.[7]
| Date | School | Degree |
|---|---|---|
| 21 July 2011 | University of Essex | Doctor of university (D.U.)[176] |
| 16 July 2012 | University of Leeds | Doctor of Laws (LL.D.)[177] |
| 19 November 2013 | University of East London | Doctor of university (D.U.)[44] |
| 19 December 2013 | London School of Economics | Doctor of Laws (LL.D.)[178][179] |
| 14 July 2014 | University of Reading | Doctor of Laws (LL.D.)[180] |
| 18 November 2014 | University of Worcester | Doctor of university (D.U.)[181] |
Starmer is the author and editor of several books about criminal law and human rights, including:[3]
It brings the number of councillors to have resigned from Labour to 50
Union leaders have told Keir Starmer his position on Gaza risks alienating millions of Britons, telling the Labour leader their members are increasingly angry about his refusal to call for an immediate ceasefire in the Middle East.
It is hard to define what Sir Keir stands for politically
Away from Brexit, his politics are less clear.
This makes it hard to define what Sir Keir stands for politically. But it is clear what he is not: a populist.
Media from Commons
Quotations from Wikiquote
Data from Wikidata| Legal offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Director of Public Prosecutions 2008–2013 |
Succeeded by |
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
| Preceded by | Member of Parliament for Holborn and St Pancras 2015–present |
Incumbent |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Shadow Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union 2016–2020 |
Office abolished |
| Preceded by | Leader of the Opposition 2020–2024 |
Incumbent |
| Party political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Leader of the Labour Party 2020–present |
Incumbent |
Law
Politics
Socialism
United Kingdom
