The man with the funny first name becomes the new British prime minister
Critics label Opposition leader Keir Starmer as a colourless opportunist. His supporters, however, praise the 61-year-old as a pragmatic manager. Starmer won the election in Britain, ending the Conservative Party's 14-year tenure.
His campaign was deliberately low-key, his demeanour sober. "I'm running for Prime Minister, not a circus director", Starmer said. The Labour Party leader positions himself as a return to seriousness in British politics. And after 14 years of partly chaotic Conservative rule, the Britons seem to yearn for it.
"We've done it", Starmer rejoiced on election night. The Conservatives performed poorly, while Labour almost won as high as in the legendary victory of 1997. Britain elects based on the first-past-the-post system: The House of Commons consists of MPs who have each won their own constituency. The national performance of the parties plays no role in the distribution of seats. By Friday of this week, King Charles III will commission Starmer with government formation.
Named after the Labour Party founder
Starmer owes the Conservatives, especially the Tories, for his current residence in the famous London house at 10 Downing Street. This would have been unlikely just a few years ago. The 61-year-old is a latecomer to politics, starting his career as a lawyer.
Starmer was born on September 2, 1962, and grew up with three siblings in a cramped terraced house on the outskirts of London. His father was a toolmaker, his mother a nurse, and he himself was seriously ill. They named their son the unusual first name Keir - a tribute to the politician Keir Hardie, who founded the Labour Party in 1900.
"I know how it feels when you're embarrassed to bring your friends home because the carpet is worn out and the windows are broken", Starmer once recounted about his childhood, contradicting his detractors who portray him as part of a self-satisfied London liberal elite.
Friend of Amal Clooney
Starmer attended school with Norman Cook, later DJ Fatboy Slim, and played the violin. At the weekend, he visited a renowned London music school. Starmer studied law in Leeds and Oxford and became a human rights lawyer. He defended trade unions, took on McDonald's, and advocated for those sentenced to death in the Caribbean. He has been friends with the prominent human rights lawyer Amal Clooney since their time in the same law firm.
Colleagues and friends were surprised when Starmer began moving towards the Establishment in 2003: In that year, he became a human rights advisor to the Northern Irish police force and was responsible for ensuring that the police in Northern Ireland respected human rights. Five years later, the Labour government appointed him as the Attorney General for England and Wales.
Since 2013, Starmer has brought charges against MPs who misused expenses, against journalists who tapped phones, and against young rioters of the 2011 unrests. Queen Elizabeth II knighted Starmer, a title he rarely uses.
In 2015, he was first elected to political office: Two weeks after the death of his mother, he was elected in a traditional Labour constituency in the North of London to Parliament. A year later, Starmer participated in the unsuccessful rebellion against the controversial and left-wing Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn.
However, he became the Labour spokesperson on Brexit - against which he had voted - before he replaced Corbyn at the head of the Labour Party in April 2020. Since then, he has moved Labour significantly to the centre and fought against anti-Semitism in the Party, leading to Corbyn's expulsion.
Starmer still seems uneasy in the limelight at times. But he is trying to shake off his image as a stiff long-face. "In politics it's about serving," he recently said in a campaign speech. "Country first, then the Party," is his mantra. After his election win, the conservative "Times" ironically noted that he had laughed and smiled twice during the election night. Once it even looked genuine.
As Prime Minister, Starmer will face major challenges that his five conservative predecessors could not master. But his greatest concern upon entering 10 Downing Street is his two teenage children, whom he kept out of the campaign with his wife Victoria: "They are at a difficult age," he said. "My only fear is how it will affect them."
After securing the win in the British House of Commons election, Keir Starmer expressed his joy, noting that the Conservative Party's performance was subpar while Labour almost matched its record-breaking victory of 1997. As the new leader, Starmer will be commissioned by King Charles III to form the government by Friday, marking the end of the Conservative Party's 14-year tenure, thanks to the first-past-the-post system in Britain.
In contrast to his predecessor Jeremy Corbyn, Starmer, a Labour Party leader, positions himself as a proponent of seriousness in British politics, echoing the sentiments of the British public tired of the Conservative Party's chaotic rule. A pragmatic manager, Starmer was initially a lawyer before moving into politics, with notable achievements like defending trade unions and advocating for death row prisoners.
While Rishi Sunak, the former Chancellor of the Exchequer, was considered a major contender for the role of Prime Minister, the Labour Party led by Starmer managed to outperform the Conservative Party in the election, underscoring the public's desire for change and indicating a possible shift in Great Britain's political landscape.
