Who is Labour Leader Keir Starmer?
Keir Starmer is set to become the next Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. His Labour Party has achieved a resounding victory in the recent elections, securing 186 seats, far surpassing the majority threshold of 170. The current ruling Conservative Party has struggled, winning fewer than 50 seats. The election results were not surprising as exit polls from BBC, ITV, and Sky had predicted a major win for Labour following the general election on Thursday, July 4. Let’s learn more about Keir Starmer, who is on the brink of becoming the new PM of the UK.
1. Age: 61
2. Education:
Reigate Grammar School
University of Leeds
University of Oxford
3. Family:
Keir Starmer is married to Victoria Alexander, an NHS occupational therapist. They have one son and one daughter.
4. Parliamentary Constituency:
He has represented Holborn and St Pancras since 2015.
5. Background:
Starmer often describes himself as having a working-class background. His father was a toolmaker, and his mother worked as a nurse.
6. Personal Struggles:
His mother suffered from Still’s disease, a rare autoimmune condition that eventually left her unable to speak or walk.
7. Early Education:
Starmer attended Reigate Grammar School, which became a private school two years after his admission. Until he was 16, his fees were paid by the local council.
8. First in Family to Attend University:
After school, he became the first person in his family to attend university, studying law at Leeds and later at Oxford. In 1987, he became a barrister specializing in human rights law. His work took him to the Caribbean and Africa, where he defended prisoners facing the death penalty.
9. Pro Bono Work:
In the late 1990s, he offered his services for free to the so-called McLibel activists, who were facing legal challenges from the fast-food giant McDonald’s over environmental claims.
10. Senior Criminal Prosecutor:
In 2008, he was appointed the Director of Public Prosecutions and head of the Crown Prosecution Service for England and Wales.
Political Journey
In 2015, Starmer was elected as the Member of Parliament for Holborn and St Pancras in North London. He served as the Shadow Brexit Secretary in former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn’s frontbench team, advocating for a second EU referendum.
After Labour’s significant loss in the 2019 general election, Starmer ran for the party leadership and won in April 2020. In his victory speech, he promised to lead Labour into a “new era of trust and hope.”
Starmer’s journey from a working-class background to the cusp of becoming the UK’s Prime Minister is a testament to his dedication, expertise, and leadership in both law and politics.