Keir Starmer Age, Wife, Children, Family, Biography

Some Lesser Known Facts About Keir Starmer

• Keir Starmer belongs to a Jewish family in Southwark, London.

• Soon after his birth, his family moved to Oxted in Surrey, London. His parents were Labour Party supporters and there were many reports claiming that Starmer was named after the Labour Party’s first parliamentary leader Keir Hardie; however, Keir said that he was not sure if the reports are correct.

•  He received his education free until the age of 16. After he turned 16, he was awarded a special grant by the school that allowed him to complete his education there free of cost.

• Keir chose mathematics, music, and physics as specialist study subjects, and he achieved A-level grades of B, B, and C.

• Popular musician Norman Cook, politician Andrew Cooper, and journalist Andrew Sullivan were his classmates in school.

• He became politically active during his teenage years. He became a member of the Labour Party Young Socialists at the age of 16.

• In the same year, he became the junior exhibitioner at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and remained for two years. He used to play flute, piano, recorder, and violin there.

• In 1985, he became the first member of his family to graduate from college.
  

  Keir Starmer with his parents on his graduation day

• In 1986, he became the editor of a British Trotskyist radical magazine called Socialist Alternatives. He served as its editor for a year.

• In 1987, he became a barrister at the Middle Temple and was promoted to the rank of bencher at the Middle Temple in 2009.

• In the same year, he began working as a legal officer ‘for the advocacy group Liberty’ or ‘for an advocacy group known as Liberty’ formally known as the National Council for Civil Liberties (NCCL).

• He worked for Liberty till 1990 after which he became a member of Doughty Street Chambers in Bristol, Manchester where he primarily worked on cases related to human rights issues.

• During that time, Starmer was appointed to the bar of various countries including Bahamas, Belize, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, St Lucia, Trinidad and Tobago, Uganda, Kenya, Nigeria, and Malawi where he fought for convicts given death sentences.

• In 1999, he worked as a junior barrister for British army soldier Lee Clegg’s case who was convicted of murder.

• In 2002, he began serving as the Northern Ireland Policing Board’s and the Association of Chief Police Officers’ human rights adviser and served till 2008.

• In the same year, he also became a member of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office’s death penalty advisory panel.

• During his time as the human rights adviser to the Northern Ireland Policing Board, he met Victoria Starmer for the first time, who was a solicitor at the time.
  

  An old picture of Victoria Starmer and Keir Starmer

• In July 2008, he was appointed as the new head of the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) and Director of Public Prosecutions by the Attorney General for England and Wales at the time.

• After he was appointed as its head, he dealt with various major cases including the Stephen Lawrence murder case.

• In February 2010, as the head of the CPS, he announced the CPS’s decision to prosecute three Labour MPs and a Conservative peer for false accounting in the aftermath of the parliamentary expenses scandal as they all were found to be guilty.

• In 2015, Starmer was asked by many activists to contest in the 2015 Labour Party leadership election after the resignation of Ed Miliband as Leader of the Labour Party after the party lost its second consecutive general election; however, Starmer refused to take the position claiming that he did not have sufficient political experience.

• In 2015, he was appointed to Corbyn’s shadow cabinet as shadow home office minister; however, he resigned in 2016 as a form of protest against Corbyn’s leadership.
  

  Keir Starmer (left) with Jeremy Corbyn

• In September 2016, he was appointed as the Shadow Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union.

• During the 2016 European Union membership referendum, he supported Britain’s Stronger in Europe advocacy group.

• He has been a member of various parliamentarian groups including Labour Friends of Israel and Labour Friends of Palestine and the Middle East.

• In 2022, Starmer supported Ukraine during the Russian invasion of Ukraine and also claimed that there would be no change in Britain’s position on the war in Ukraine under his leadership.

• Keir Starmer claims to be an atheist; however, he along with his wife are raising their kids as per the Judaism beliefs. According to him, he has faith in the power of religion as he believes ‘it brings people together.’ After winning the elections, he chose to take a “solemn affirmation” rather than an oath of allegiance to the monarch.

• Keir enjoys watching and playing football and is an Arsenal fan. He has played for the north London amateur team Homerton Academicals.

• Before the 2024 General Election in the UK, Starmer announced the Labour Party’s manifesto titled Change, which included economic growth, planning system reforms, infrastructure, clean energy, healthcare, education, childcare, and strengthening workers’ rights.

• Starmer is often compared to the UK’s former primer minister Tony Blair in terms of his leadership.

• Starmer’s political ideology is referred to as Starmerism and his followers are known as the Starmerites.

• According to him, the definition of Starmerism is
  

  Recognizing that our economy needs to be fixed. Recognizing that [solving] climate change isn’t just an obligation; it’s the biggest opportunity we’ve got for our country going forward. Recognizing that public services need to be reformed, that every child and every place should have the best opportunities and that we need a safe environment, safe streets, et cetera.”

• During his acceptance speech, Keir claimed that he would end antisemitism in the party.

• He has published various books including Justice in Error (1993), Signing Up for Human Rights: The United Kingdom and International Standards (1998), Criminal Justice, Police Powers and Human Rights (2001), and A Report on the Policing of the Ardoyne Parades (2004).
  

  Keir Starmer’s book

• He hit the headlines in September 2024 after he referred to the return of hostages as the return of sausages while giving a speech calling for ending hostilities between Israel and Palestine.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer mistakenly calls for the 'return of the sausages' instead of the hostages in Gaza during the Labour Party Conference in Liverpool.

Follow live politics updates | https://t.co/xItZsH7tea pic.twitter.com/7An3jB38Ys

— Sky News (@SkyNews) September 24, 2024