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 2 September 1962 Southwark, London, England | ||||||||||||
Political party | Labour | ||||||||||||
Spouse | |||||||||||||
Children | 2 | ||||||||||||
Residence(s) | 10 Downing Street, London Chequers, Aylesbury | ||||||||||||
Alma mater | |||||||||||||
Occupation |
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Website | keirstarmer | ||||||||||||
Sir Keir Rodney Starmer KCB KC (/ˈkɪər/ KEER; born 2 September 1962) is a British politician and barrister who has served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom since 2024 and as Leader of the Labour Party since 2020. He previously served as Leader of the Opposition from 2020 to 2024. He has been Member of Parliament (MP) for Holborn and St Pancras since 2015, and was Director of Public Prosecutions from 2008 to 2013.
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. Starmer 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. During his tenure as Director of Public Prosecutions and head of the Crown Prosecution Service 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 influenced by his Northern Ireland policing work to pursue a political career, and was elected to the House of Commons at the 2015 general election. He supported the Remain campaign in the 2016 European Union membership referendum and advocated a proposed second referendum on Brexit. He served in Jeremy Corbyn's shadow cabinet latterly 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 he moved Labour towards the political centre and emphasised the elimination of antisemitism within the party, and his party made significant gains in the 2023 and 2024 local elections.
Starmer led Labour to a landslide victory at the 2024 general election, which ended 14 years of Conservative government. During his premiership, he has scrapped certain winter fuel payments, and has implemented an early release scheme for thousands of prisoners in order to decrease prison overcrowding. He is also establishing a Border Security Command to replace the Rwanda asylum plan, and is in the process of establishing a national violent disorder programme amidst riots across the country following the Southport stabbing. 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.