Keir Starmer, the Oxford-educated son of a working-class man who united Labour amid criticism of his charisma

Described as “Serious”, “diligent” either “manager”Starmer lacks charisma which helped propel the careers of Tony Blair and Boris Johnson himself. Much of the population is unaware that the former lawyer has not always worked in politics (almost 25%), is from a humble background (62%) and a great football fan (56%), according to data from Public First.

Despite its low profileStarmer has achieved two things that seemed almost impossible five years ago: reuniting Labour and ending 14 years of Conservative governments. His luck was marked by the moment he appeared on the scene presenting a serious and formal alternative to the governments of Johnson, Liz Truss and Rishi Sunakmarked by scandals such as the partygate and controversial policies such as the agreement of Brexit.

The origins

The son of a toolmaker and a chronically ill nurse, Starmer grew up with his three siblings in Surrey, a town outside London. From humble beginnings, he was the first person in his family to earn a university degree. The 61-year-old Labour leader has repeatedly recalled the financial hardships his family endured, perhaps in an effort to contrast with Sunak and his career in investment banking. “As a child, we never had much. We couldn’t pay our bills,” Starmer said on SkyNews.

With a politician’s name, it took Starmer more than 50 years to stand for election. His parents always supported the Labour Party and are said to have named him after the party’s first parliamentary leader, J. Keir Hardie. Starmer studied law at the universities of Leeds and Oxford, specialising in human rights.

In the following years he worked on high-profile cases against companies such as Shell and McDonalds (in the McDefamation case) and advised on the legal proceedings that preceded the abolition of the death penalty in Uganda and contributed to the pacification of Northern Ireland following the Good Friday Agreement. In 2002 he was appointed Queen’s Counsel and, five years later, he took over the Crown Prosecution Service, a position for which he was knighted, obtaining the title of sir Keir Starmer.

Impact on politics

Perhaps the greatest achievement of Starmer’s political career to date had been reunite the Labour PartyThe politician was part of the group of 21 party members who resigned from their posts in 2016 as Protest against Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership; although he rejoined shortly afterwards as “shadow minister” of the BrexitFollowing Labour’s defeat in the 2019 election, Starmer was elected as the party’s new leader.

Over the past five years, Starmer has imposed discipline on the party and has steered it away from Corbyn’s more progressive stances, redirecting it towards the political center. This has led to criticism for betraying his promises to facilitate free access to university, make large investments to reduce emissions or his ambiguous stance on the situation in Gazabut it has also allowed him to reach out to new voters, propelling him towards Downing Street.

“A vote for Labour is a vote for political and economic stability,” Starmer said at the start of the election campaign. His most notable promises include stabilising the economy, reducing queues for access to social security, hiring more teachers, creating a national energy company and strengthen the borders.

However, his likely victory is more a consequence of the collapse of the Conservative Party than a personal achievement. Faced with a divided party that has seen four prime ministers in five years and has been involved in scandals such as the partygate or investigations into election day betting, Labour present a No Drama Starmerand promise the perfect balance between continuity and change. Starmer will be a dry speaker, who does not generate emotion in his audience, but offers something that Tories they have lost: credibility.

Given the country’s difficult economic situation, the UK is tired of the show. In Starmer’s case, being boring is his great virtue.