British Labor leader Keir Starmer (61) is set to become the UK’s new prime minister after Rishi Sunak’s Conservative Party suffered a historic election defeat. Who is Starmer and what does he stand for? A portrait of the new Prime Minister.
Sir Keir Rodney Starmer was born on September 2, 1962 in the historic Southwark district of London, but grew up in a working-class family in Oxted, a small village in the south of London. Starmer was the first in the family to earn a law degree following his studies.
His career then begins within the British justice system. He specializes as a lawyer in human rights and represents many people around the world. During his work in Northern Ireland, he advises the Northern Ireland Police on human rights, among other things, and he later decides he wants to enter politics. That will happen in 2015, when he is elected as a Member of Parliament on behalf of the Labor Party.
Party leader
Starmer will become party leader in 2020 after another defeat for Labour. He first served as a shadow minister within the party, which brought him fame. Unlike his predecessor Jeremy Corbyn, he has pulled the party towards the centre. He has also been criticized by the Left. In May this year, two controversial members of the Conservative Party defected to Labour.
Starmer has laid out five tasks she wants to tackle: investing in green energy, sustainable development for all, improving healthcare, reforming the justice system and creating equal opportunities for all children regardless of their background.
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Who is Starmer outside of politics?
British voters describe Starmer as a “boring guy” despite his extensive CV. People wonder what a politician is like outside of politics. Of this, Starmere says, “the only thing the British press said” was that he was fine.
Tom Baldwin, Starmer’s biographer, described the politician as “complex and filled with contradictions”. According to him, Starmer is someone who thinks carefully about decisions and sometimes takes them back. “He doesn’t have the charisma that convinced many of Boris Johnson, but he has his values and empathy. It’s special and ordinary.
According to the British press, Labour’s big election victory was not directly due to Starmer’s image, but because voters were completely fed up with the Conservatives and wanted to see a change.
read more:
Labor won the British election, Sunak’s resounding defeat
By: Rick Hartkamp
