Keir Starmer
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom since July 2024 / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Sir Keir Rodney Starmer KCB KC (/ˈkɪər/ ⓘ; born 2 September 1962) is a British politician and barrister serving as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom since July 2024 and as Leader of the Labour Party since 2020. He previously served as Leader of the Opposition from 2020 to 2024. Starmer has been Member of Parliament (MP) for Holborn and St Pancras since 2015, and was Director of Public Prosecutions from 2008 to 2013.
Sir Keir Starmer | |||||||||||||
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Prime Minister of the United Kingdom | |||||||||||||
Assumed office 5 July 2024 | |||||||||||||
Monarch | Charles III | ||||||||||||
Deputy | Angela Rayner | ||||||||||||
Preceded by | Rishi Sunak | ||||||||||||
Leader of the Opposition | |||||||||||||
In office 4 April 2020 – 5 July 2024 | |||||||||||||
Monarchs |
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Prime Minister |
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Deputy | Angela Rayner | ||||||||||||
Preceded by | Jeremy Corbyn | ||||||||||||
Succeeded by | Rishi Sunak | ||||||||||||
Leader of the Labour Party | |||||||||||||
Assumed office 4 April 2020 | |||||||||||||
Deputy | Angela Rayner | ||||||||||||
Preceded by | Jeremy Corbyn | ||||||||||||
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Assumed office 7 May 2015 | |||||||||||||
Preceded by | Frank Dobson | ||||||||||||
Majority | 11,572 (30.0%) | ||||||||||||
Director of Public Prosecutions | |||||||||||||
In office 1 November 2008 – 1 November 2013 | |||||||||||||
Appointed by | Patricia Scotland | ||||||||||||
Preceded by | Ken Macdonald | ||||||||||||
Succeeded by | Alison Saunders | ||||||||||||
Personal details | |||||||||||||
Born | Keir Rodney Starmer (1962-09-02) 2 September 1962 (age 61) Southwark, London, England | ||||||||||||
Political party | Labour | ||||||||||||
Spouse | |||||||||||||
Children | 2 | ||||||||||||
Education | Reigate Grammar School | ||||||||||||
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Website | keirstarmer | ||||||||||||
Born in London and raised in Surrey, Starmer attended the selective state Reigate Grammar School. He was politically active from an early age and joined the Labour Party Young Socialists when he was 16. He graduated with a Bachelor of Laws degree from the University of Leeds in 1985 and gained a postgraduate Bachelor of Civil Law degree from the University of Oxford where he was a student at St Edmund Hall, 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; his Northern Ireland policing work influencing his decision to pursue a political career. During his tenure as Director of Public Prosecutions, he 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, he supported the unsuccessful remain campaign in the 2016 Brexit referendum and advocated a proposed second referendum on Brexit. He was appointed to 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 on a left-wing platform. As opposition leader, however, he moved the party toward the political centre, and also emphasised the project of eliminating antisemitism within the party.
In July 2024, Starmer led Labour to a landslide victory at the 2024 general election, ending fourteen years of Conservative government with Labour becoming the largest party in the House of Commons. He succeeded Rishi Sunak as prime minister on 5 July. Domestically, Starmer has said he will focus on economic growth, planning system reforms, infrastructure, energy, healthcare, education, childcare, and strengthening workers' rights, all of which were outlined in the 2024 election manifesto. He is also establishing the Border Security Command to replace the Rwanda asylum plan. In foreign policy, Starmer has supported Ukraine in its war against Russia and Israel in its war against Hamas, but has also called for an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza Strip since February 2024, after previously declining to call for one.