In the way he has methodically straightened out and refocused his party, British Labour leader Keir Starmer has run a deliberately lackluster campaign. He aims to embody the return of “seriousness” to the United Kingdom and is well on his way to entering Downing Street.
Few saw a future prime minister in this former human rights lawyer and director of public prosecutors when he took over from the far-left Jeremy Corbyn in early 2020, then at the head of a party stunned by a historic electoral defeat against the Conservatives.
Austere, lacking charismatic, too centrist for part of the activist base, often associated with a pro-European London elite disconnected from the working classes who had voted in favour of Brexit… there was no shortage of reasons to be sceptical.
Four years later, the 61-year-old MP, who entered politics late in life, has refocused his party without the feared explosion, and without any qualms for those who refused to fall into line. And Labour is the clear favourite for Thursday’s general election.
“Not a circus director”
Compared during a televised debate to “a political robot”, the lawyer with his severe style, glasses and his impeccably parted grey hair rolls up his sleeves as he crisscrosses the country and insists on his modest origins.
“My father was a toolmaker and my mother a nurse,” systematically recalls the man whose unusual first name pays homage to the founder of Labour, Keir Hardie.
“I know what it’s like to be embarrassed to bring your friends home because the carpet is threadbare and the windows are cracked,” he insisted during the presentation of his openly “pro-business” platform.
Because basically, there is no question for this supporter of the London football club Arsenal of deviating from a very cautious centrist policy, without any spectacular promises in the name of “seriousness” and the delicate situation of public finances.
At the risk of lacking ambition? “I am running to be prime minister, not a circus director,” replies Keir Starmer, who repeats his mantra “country first, party second”, after the many scandals of the Conservative era.
Opposed to Brexit
Born on September 2, 1962, Keir Rodney Starmer grew up in a small house on the outskirts of London with a brother and two sisters, a distant father and a mother who suffered from a rare joint disease that left her unable to walk for years.
He took violin lessons from Norman Cook, former bassist for the Housemartins who became famous as Fatboy Slim.
After studying law at Leeds and then Oxford, Keir Starmer defended unions, fought against McDonald’s and fought the death penalty in the Caribbean.
Lawyer Gavin Millar, who worked with him and remains a friend, describes him as “very thorough, very hard-working, very focused on the cases”, qualities that will emerge if he enters 10 Downing Street.
“He will also be very attached to certain fundamental values in which he has always believed: equality, human rights, social justice, reducing the gap between rich and poor,” he assures AFP.
Keir Starmer began moving into more established roles in 2003, helping to rebuild the police service in Northern Ireland after the Troubles – the three-decade conflict in Northern Ireland that left more than 3,500 people dead.
He became head of the Prosecution Service for England and Wales in 2008, where he oversaw prosecutions against MPs who abused their office expenses, journalists accused of phone hacking and young people during the 2011 riots in England.
Knighted in 2014 by Queen Elizabeth II, Keir Starmer rarely uses the title “Sir”.
He was elected as a Labour MP for a north London constituency in 2015, two weeks after his mother’s death.
Despite his criticism of Jeremy Corbyn, Keir Starmer became Labour’s spokesperson on Brexit – which he voted against – before taking over as party leader in April 2020.
He immediately tackled rampant anti-Semitism within Labour’s ranks, leading to the suspension of his predecessor.
Despite the scale of the task that awaits him if elected, Keir Starmer says he is most worried about his daughter and son, who have remained invisible during the campaign, as has his wife Victoria.
He has already promised to reserve his Friday evenings for his family, with the Conservatives quick to mock a future “part-time” prime minister.