What to know about Keir Starmer, the U.K.'s new prime minister
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Keir Starmer on July 3 in Redditch, United Kingdom. Photo: Christopher Furlong/Getty Images
Keir Starmer became the U.K.'s new prime minister on Friday, one day after Britain's center-left Labour Party sailed to a landslide victory in the country's elections.
Why it matters: The change in government will likely result in a shift in U.S. relations with one of its closest allies, which for 14 years was governed by the Conservatives.
- "Our country has voted decisively for change, for national renewal," Starmer said in his first remarks as prime minister Friday.
Starmer's background
Starmer, 61, grew up in Oxted, a town south of London. His father worked as a toolmaker in a factory while his mother was a nurse for Britain's National Health Service (NHS), according to his biography.
- He was the first in his family to attend university, studying law at the University of Leeds before completing postgraduate studies at the University of Oxford.
- While campaigning, Starmer frequently emphasized his working-class roots, which distinguished him from some other former Labour party leaders who came from more affluent backgrounds, per Foreign Policy.
- Starmer has two teenage children with his wife, Victoria Starmer, who works for the NHS.
Work before entering politics
Starmer began his career as a human rights lawyer, taking up high-profile cases against corporations such as Shell and McDonalds.
- He later served as a legal adviser to police in Northern Ireland after the Good Friday agreement.
- In 2008, Starmer became head of the government's Crown Prosecution Service. In 2014, he was knighted for his "services to criminal justice," according to his biography.
Involvement in politics
Starmer was first elected to parliament in 2015.
- Former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn appointed Starmer to serve as shadow immigration minister for the opposition, per the BBC. Starmer served in the role from 2015 to 2016.
- Starmer then served as shadow secretary of state for exiting the European Union from 2016 to 2020, as the U.K. navigated Brexit.
- In 2020, Starmer was elected leader of the Labour party.
What Starmer has said about the U.S.
Starmer told Politico's Power Play podcast last year that a Trump win in 2024 wouldn't be his "desired outcome" and that there was a "great deal of concern" that Trump would alter U.S. policy towards Ukraine.
- But since then, Labour party members have said they were making efforts to strengthen their relationships with both Democrats and Republicans in the U.S., Politico reported.
- "We will work with whoever is elected … We have a special relationship with the U.S. that transcends whoever the president is," Starmer said more recently, per Politico.
Editor's note: This story has been updated with comments Starmer has made regarding the U.S.-U.K. relationship.
