107 Facts About Keir Starmer

Sir Keir Rodney Starmer was born on 2 September 1962 and is a British politician and lawyer who has served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom since 2024 and as Leader of the Labour Party since 2020.

Keir Starmer previously served as Leader of the Opposition from 2020 to 2024.

Keir Starmer has been Member of Parliament for Holborn and St Pancras since 2015, and was Director of Public Prosecutions from 2008 to 2013.

Keir Starmer was active politically as a teenager, and graduated with a Bachelor of Laws degree from the University of Leeds in 1985 and received a postgraduate Bachelor of Civil Law degree from the University of Oxford where he was a student at St Edmund Hall in 1986.

Keir Starmer served as a human rights adviser to the Northern Ireland Policing Board, taking silk as a Queen's Counsel in 2002.

Keir Starmer's policing work in Northern Ireland influenced him to pursue a political career, and he was elected to the House of Commons at the 2015 general election.

Keir Starmer supported the Remain campaign in the 2016 European Union membership referendum and advocated a proposed second referendum on Brexit.

Keir Starmer served in Jeremy Corbyn's Shadow Cabinet as Shadow Brexit Secretary, and following Corbyn's resignation after Labour's defeat at the 2019 general election, Starmer succeeded him by winning the 2020 leadership election.

Keir Starmer oversaw a significant drop in Labour membership in the years leading up to the 2024 election.

Keir Starmer led Labour to a landslide victory at the 2024 general election, ending fourteen years of Conservative government with the smallest vote share of any majority government since record-keeping began in 1830.

Keir Starmer has announced a Border Security Command to replace the Rwanda asylum plan and a National Violent Disorder Programme in response to the 2024 riots, as well as reforms to workers' rights and an increase to the minimum wage.

In foreign policy, Keir Starmer has supported Ukraine in the Russia-Ukraine war and Israel in the Gaza war, whilst calling for a ceasefire in the latter conflict.

Keir Rodney Starmer was born on 2 September 1962, at Southwark in south east London, and grew up in the town of Oxted, Surrey.

Keir Starmer was the second of the four children of Josephine, a nurse, and Rodney Starmer, a toolmaker.

Keir Starmer's mother attended St John's Anglican Church in nearby Hurst Green, while his father was an atheist.

Keir Starmer's parents were both Labour Party supporters, and reputedly named him after the party's first parliamentary leader, Keir Hardie, although Starmer did not confirm this when asked in 2015.

The subjects he chose to study in the sixth form during his last two years at school were mathematics, music and physics, in which he achieved A level grades of B, B and C Among his classmates at Reigate were the musician Norman Cook, with whom Starmer took violin lessons; Andrew Cooper, who later became a Conservative peer, and the future conservative journalist Andrew Sullivan.

Keir Starmer won a junior exhibition from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama where he played the flute, piano, recorder and violin until the age of 18.

Keir Starmer escaped the incident without punishment, beyond the ice creams being confiscated.

The first member of his family to go to university, Keir Starmer read law at the University of Leeds where he became a member of the university's Labour Club before graduating with a first class LLB in 1985.

Keir Starmer then went up to St Edmund Hall to pursue postgraduate studies in jurisprudence taking a Bachelor of Civil Law degree from the University of Oxford in 1986.

Keir Starmer became a barrister in 1987 at the Middle Temple, then a bencher in 2009.

Keir Starmer served as a legal officer for the campaign group Liberty until 1990.

Keir Starmer was a member of Doughty Street Chambers from 1990 onwards, primarily working on human rights matters.

Keir Starmer has been called to the Bar in several Caribbean countries, where he defended convicts sentenced to the death penalty.

Keir Starmer assisted Helen Steel and David Morris in the McLibel case, at the trial and appeal in English courts, representing them before the European Court of Human Rights.

Keir Starmer was appointed Queen's Counsel on 9 April 2002, aged 39.

In 2005, Keir Starmer called his Queen's Counsel appointment "odd" as he had previously expressed support for the abolition of the monarchy.

Keir Starmer authored legal opinions and marched in protest against the Iraq War following the 2003 invasion of Iraq, stating in 2015 that he believed that the war was "not lawful under international law because there was no UN resolution expressly authorising it".

Keir Starmer served as a human rights adviser to the Northern Ireland Policing Board and the Association of Chief Police Officers, and was a member of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office's Death Penalty Advisory Panel from 2002 to 2008.

Keir Starmer represented Croatia at the genocide hearings before the International Court of Justice at The Hague in 2014, arguing that Serbia wanted to seize a third of Croatian territory during the 1990s war and eradicate the Croatian population.

Keir Starmer was deemed to be bringing a focus on human rights into the legal system.

In February 2010, Keir 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.

Keir Starmer prioritised rapid prosecutions of rioters over long sentences during the 2011 England riots, which he later concluded helped to bring "the situation back under control".

In 2012, the journalist Nick Cohen published allegations that Keir Starmer was personally responsible for allowing the prosecution of Paul Chambers to proceed, in what became known as the "Twitter joke trial".

The CPS denied that Keir Starmer was behind the decision, saying that it was the responsibility of a Crown Court and was out of Keir Starmer's hands.

Keir Starmer stepped down as Director of Public Prosecutions in November 2013, and was succeeded by Alison Saunders.

Keir Starmer was selected in December 2014 as the Labour parliamentary candidate for the constituency of Holborn and St Pancras, a Labour safe seat, following the decision of its sitting MP, Frank Dobson, to retire.

Keir Starmer was elected at the 2015 general election with a majority of 17,048.

Keir Starmer was re-elected at the 2017 general election with an increased majority of 30,509, at the 2019 general election with a reduced majority of 27,763, and at the 2024 general election with a further reduced majority of 18,884.

Keir Starmer was appointed to Corbyn's Shadow Cabinet as Shadow Home Office Minister in September 2015.

Keir Starmer resigned from this role in June 2016 as part of the widespread Shadow Cabinet resignations in protest at Corbyn's leadership following the 2016 EU Referendum result.

Keir Starmer began to distance himself from Corbyn's leadership and many of the policies put forward at the general election, later revealing in 2024 that he was "certain that we would lose the 2019 election".

On 4 January 2020, Keir Starmer announced his candidacy for the resultant leadership election.

Keir Starmer indicated he would 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 government and the justice system.

Keir Starmer later became more critical of HM Government's response to the pandemic following the partygate scandal.

In May 2022, Keir Starmer said he would resign were he to receive a fixed penalty notice for breaching COVID-19 regulations while campaigning during the run-up to the Hartlepool by-election and local elections the previous year.

In July 2022 Durham Police cleared Keir Starmer and said that he had "no case to answer".

Amidst the historic number of ministers resigning from Boris Johnson's government in July 2022, Keir Starmer proposed a vote of no confidence in the Government, stating that Johnson should not be allowed to remain in office.

Keir Starmer criticised Johnson, as well as his successors Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak, for issues such as the Chris Pincher scandal and the subsequent government crisis, the economic crisis resulting from the 2022 mini-budget and subsequent government crisis, the cost of living crisis, and the industrial disputes and strikes including National Health Service strikes.

Keir Starmer's reshuffles reduced the representation of the left and soft left on the Opposition frontbench, while increasing the representation of the Party's right.

In June 2024, Keir Starmer released the Labour Party's 2024 manifesto, Change, which focused on economic growth, planning system reforms, infrastructure, what Keir Starmer describes as "clean energy", healthcare, education, childcare, and strengthening workers' rights.

On taxes, the day after the manifesto was released, Keir Starmer pledged that not only would income tax, National Insurance, and VAT not be increased, but that, per their manifesto, their plans were fully costed and funded and would not require tax increases.

Keir Starmer led Labour to a landslide victory at the general election, ending fourteen years of Conservative government with Labour becoming the largest party in the House of Commons.

Keir Starmer stopped the car on the way back from the palace to go on a walkabout in Downing Street to meet cheering crowds.

Keir Starmer went on a tour of the four nations of the UK, meeting with leaders including John Swinney, Michelle O'Neill, and Vaughan Gething.

On 24 July 2024, Keir Starmer attended his first Prime Minister's Questions in parliament.

Domestically, Keir Starmer said that his primary concerns would be economic growth, reforming the planning system, infrastructure, energy, healthcare, education, childcare, and strengthening workers' rights, as set out in Labour's 2024 election manifesto.

Shortly after taking office, Keir Starmer said that there were "too many prisoners", and described the previous government as having acted "almost beyond recklessness".

Keir Starmer has defended the releasing of prisoners, and accused the previous government of having "broke[n] the prison system".

In Government, Keir Starmer reaffirmed the outgoing Conservative government's commitment of no new HIV cases in the United Kingdom by 2030.

Keir Starmer launched a Child Poverty Taskforce, in which expert officials from across government would work together on how best to support more than four million children living in poverty.

Keir Starmer visited Southport and laid flowers at the scene, where he was heckled by some members of the public.

Keir Starmer later wrote amidst the riots across England and Northern Ireland following the stabbing that those who had "hijacked the vigil for the victims" had "insulted the community as it grieves" and that rioters would feel the full force of the law.

Musk further said Keir Starmer was not protecting all communities in the United Kingdom, which he said had a "two-tier" policing system.

On 11 September 2024, Keir Starmer pledged that there would be no more money for the NHS without reform.

Keir Starmer is the first woman to present a British government budget, marking the Labour Party's first Budget in over 14 years.

In September 2024, during a visit to New York City to address the UN General Assembly, Keir Starmer met Republican Party presidential candidate Donald Trump at Trump Tower.

In February 2025 Keir Starmer met with President Trump at the White House to discuss continued support to Ukraine and a potential peace deal.

Keir Starmer presented a hand written letter from King Charles III inviting the President to a historic second state visit to the UK.

The first overseas meeting Keir Starmer attended as prime minister was the 2024 NATO summit held in Washington from 9 to 11 July 2024.

Since he became prime minister Keir Starmer has sought to "reset" UK relations with the European Union following Brexit, which he opposed.

Keir Starmer met with a number of European leaders during his first few months in office.

At the 2024 NATO summit, Keir Starmer signalled that Ukraine could use British Storm Shadow missiles, sent by HMG by way of military aid, to strike military targets inside Russia, during the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

In November 2024, Keir Starmer met Chinese leader Xi Jinping at the G20 summit in Rio de Janeiro and told him he wanted to build a 'consistent, durable, respectful' relationship with China.

In October 2023, Keir Starmer said Israel had the right to cut off power and water from Gaza.

Keir Starmer backtracked the comment days later after significant controversy within his party, including a number of resignations among Labour councillors.

Keir Starmer has pledged support for Israel in the Gaza war, but has called for an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza Strip since February 2024, having previously refused to call for one during his tenure as Opposition Leader.

In July 2024 Keir Starmer assured Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that HMG would continue its "vital cooperation to deter malign threats" with Israel.

Keir Starmer defended changing positions on these issues by stating that the changing economic circumstances made these pledges unrealistic.

Some commentators, judging that Keir Starmer has led his party towards the political centre in order to improve its electability, attempt to liken what he has accomplished in this regard with Tony Blair's development of New Labour.

Keir Starmer has repeatedly emphasised the reform of public institutions, localism, and devolution.

Keir Starmer has pledged to abolish the House of Lords, which he describes as "indefensible", during the first term of a Labour government and to replace it with a directly elected Assembly of the Regions and Nations, the details of which will be subject to scrutiny by public consultation.

Keir Starmer criticised the Conservatives for creating peerages for "cronies and donors".

Keir Starmer tasked former PM Gordon Brown with recommending British constitutional reforms, whose report was published in 2022.

Keir Starmer has committed to eliminate fossil fuels from the UK electricity grid by 2030.

Keir Starmer has ruled out allowing transgender people to self-identify, has stated that trans women should not have the right to use women-only spaces, and has said he will continue the block on the Gender Recognition Reform Bill in Scotland.

One year on from Floyd's murder, Keir Starmer promised a Race Equality Act, which he said would be a "defining cause" for his Labour Government.

Keir Starmer said he wanted to reduce crime, maintaining that "too many people do not feel safe in their streets".

Keir Starmer has pledged to halve the rates of violence against women and girls, halve the rates of serious violent crime, halve the incidents of knife crime, increase confidence in the criminal justice system, and create a 'Charging Commission' which would be "tasked with coming up with reforms to reverse the decline in the number of offences being solved".

Keir Starmer has committed to placing specialist domestic violence workers in the control rooms of every police force responding to 999 calls to support victims of abuse.

Keir Starmer said that Blair's era of New Labour was right to be "tough on crime, tough on the causes of crime".

In June 2024 Keir Starmer pledged to reduce the record high level of legal immigration to the UK, and aims to reduce net migration by improving training and skills for British workers.

In December 2023, Keir Starmer used Margaret Thatcher, as well as Tony Blair and Clement Attlee, as examples of how politicians can effect "meaningful change" by acting "in service of the British people, rather than dictating to them".

Keir Starmer has described the Labour Party as "deeply patriotic" and credits its most successful leaders, Attlee, Harold Wilson, and Blair, for policies "rooted in the everyday concerns of working people".

Keir Starmer met Victoria Alexander, then a solicitor, in the early 2000s while he was a senior barrister with Doughty Street Chambers when they were working on the same case.

Keir Starmer is a pescatarian, and his wife is a vegetarian.

Keir Starmer is an atheist, and has chosen to take a "solemn affirmation" of allegiance to the monarch.

Keir Starmer has said that although he does not believe in God, he recognises the power of faith to bring people together.

Keir Starmer accompanies his family to services at the Liberal Jewish Synagogue in north London.

Keir Starmer is a keen footballer, having played for Homerton Academicals, a north London amateur team.

Keir Starmer has written a few articles for The Guardian and other newspapers including The Sunday Telegraph.

From 1986 to 1987, Keir Starmer served as the editor of Socialist Alternatives, a Trotskyist radical magazine produced by an organisation under the same name, which represented the British section of the International Revolutionary Marxist Tendency.

Keir Starmer issued a statement the following day, paying tribute to him.

In 2002, Keir Starmer took silk being appointed Queen's Counsel.

For "services to law and criminal justice", Keir Starmer was knighted and appointed a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath in the 2014 New Year Honours, enabling him to wear the Order of the Bath badge and star on appropriate occasions.

Keir Starmer was sworn of the Privy Council on 19 July 2017, according him the honorific prefix of "the Right Honourable".