Sir Keir Rodney Starmer is a British politician and lawyer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from July 2024 to July 2026.
Born on 2 September 1962 in Southwark, London, and raised in Oxted, Surrey, he was named after Keir Hardie, the first parliamentary leader of the Labour Party.
The second of four children of toolmaker Rodney Starmer and nurse Josephine Starmer (née Baker), who lived with the effects of Still’s disease, he grew up in a working-class household that supported the Labour Party.
Starmer attended Reigate Grammar School, earned a first-class Bachelor of Laws degree from the University of Leeds in 1985, and completed a Bachelor of Civil Law at St Edmund Hall, Oxford, in 1986.
He entered Parliament as the Member for Holborn and St Pancras in 2015, became Leader of the Labour Party in 2020, and led the party to a landslide victory in the 2024 general election.
Siblings
Keir is the second of four children. His older sister is Anna, who attended horticultural college, raised a family, and later worked in a garden centre.
His younger siblings are twins Katy and Nick, born in 1964.
Nick experienced complications at birth that left him with lifelong learning difficulties.
He was often bullied at school and faced significant challenges, including difficulty holding down long-term employment.
Starmer has spoken of sharing a bunk bed with Nick until he left for university at 18, acting as best man at Nick’s wedding, and frequently defending him from taunts.
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Nick died peacefully on Boxing Day 2024 at the age of 60 after battling cancer.
Starmer paid public tribute to him as a “wonderful man” who met life’s challenges with courage and good humour.
Katy, Nick’s twin, worked as an NHS nurse and later in the care sector, including with adults who have Down’s syndrome.
Career
Starmer qualified as a barrister in 1987 and practised primarily in criminal defence and human rights law.
He co-founded Doughty Street Chambers and later served as a human rights adviser to the Northern Ireland Policing Board.
Appointed Queen’s Counsel in 2002, he became Director of Public Prosecutions and head of the Crown Prosecution Service in 2008, holding the post until 2013.
During that time he oversaw significant cases, including the successful prosecution of the killers of Stephen Lawrence.
He entered politics relatively late, winning the Holborn and St Pancras seat for Labour in the 2015 general election.
He served as Shadow Immigration Minister and then as Shadow Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union from 2016 to 2020.
In April 2020 he was elected Leader of the Labour Party, succeeding Jeremy Corbyn.
Under his leadership Labour achieved substantial gains in local elections and won a decisive majority in the July 2024 general election, ending 14 years of Conservative government.
Starmer became Prime Minister on 5 July 2024 and served until 20 July 2026.
Accolades
In recognition of his work as Director of Public Prosecutions and his contributions to law and criminal justice, Starmer was appointed Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath (KCB) in the 2014 New Year Honours.
He had earlier taken silk as Queen’s Counsel (now King’s Counsel) in 2002.
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