Keir Starmer

Sir Keir Rodney Starmer (born 2 September 1962) is a British politician and former lawyer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2024 to 2026. He served as Leader of the Labour Party from 2020 to 2026 and as Leader of the Opposition from 2020 to 2024. He has been Member of Parliament (MP) for Holborn and St Pancras since 2015. Before entering politics he was a barrister and served as Director of Public Prosecutions from 2008 to 2013.

Born in Southwark, London, and raised in Surrey, Starmer was politically active for the Labour Party Young Socialists as a teenager. He graduated with a Bachelor of Laws degree from the University of Leeds in 1985 and received a postgraduate Bachelor of Civil Law degree from St Edmund Hall, Oxford, in 1986. After being called to the bar, Starmer worked predominantly in criminal defence, specialising in human rights.

He served as a human rights adviser to the Northern Ireland Policing Board, taking silk as a Queen's Counsel in 2002. During his tenure as Director of Public Prosecutions and head of the Crown Prosecution Service, he handled major cases including the Stephen Lawrence murder case. In the 2014 New Year Honours, he was appointed a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath (KCB) for services to law and criminal justice. Starmer 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 for a second referendum on Brexit.