Keir Starmer

The subject of this article is standing for re-election to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom on 4 July, and has not been an incumbent MP since Parliament was dissolved on 30 May. Some parts of this article may be out of date during this period. Please feel free to improve this article (but note that updates without valid and reliable references will be removed) or discuss changes on the talk page.

The Right Honourable Sir Keir Starmer KCB KC
Official portrait, 2017
Leader of the Opposition
Incumbent
Assumed office 4 April 2020
Monarchs	Elizabeth II Charles III
Prime Minister	Boris Johnson Liz Truss Rishi Sunak
Deputy	Angela Rayner
Preceded by	Jeremy Corbyn
Leader of the Labour Party
Incumbent
Assumed office 4 April 2020
Deputy	Angela Rayner
General Secretary	Jennie Formby David Evans
Chair	Angela Rayner Anneliese Dodds
Preceded by	Jeremy Corbyn
Shadow portfolios Shadow Secretary of State 2016–2020 Exiting the European Union Shadow Minister 2015–2016 Immigration
Member of Parliament for Holborn and St Pancras
In office 7 May 2015 – 30 May 2024[1]
Preceded by	Frank Dobson
Succeeded by	TBC
Director of Public Prosecutions
In office 1 November 2008 – 1 November 2013
Appointed by	The Baroness Scotland of Asthal
Preceded by	Ken Macdonald
Succeeded by	Alison Saunders
Personal details
Born	Keir Rodney Starmer (1962-09-02) 2 September 1962 (age 61) London, England
Political party	Labour
Spouse	Victoria Alexander ​ (m. 2007)​
Children	2
Education	Reigate Grammar School
Alma mater	University of Leeds (LLB) University of Oxford (BCL)
Occupation	Politician, barrister, lawyer
Signature
Website	keirstarmer.com

This article is part of a series about Keir Starmer
Political positions Legal career Electoral history Director of Public Prosecutions Shadow Minister for Immigration 2016 shadow cabinet resignations Shadow Brexit Secretary Proposed referendum Leader of the Opposition (2020–present) Leader of the Labour Party 2020 leadership election Leadership Shadow Cabinet Opposition frontbench May 2021 reshuffle November 2021 reshuffle 2023 reshuffle Beergate Elections By elections (2019–2024 parliament) Local elections 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2024 general election Related Political positions Personal life The Starmer Project
v t e

Sir Keir Rodney Starmer KCB KC (/ˈkɪər/ ^ⓘ; born 2 September 1962) is a British politician and barrister who has served as Leader of the Opposition and Leader of the Labour Party since 2020. He has been Member of Parliament (MP) for Holborn and St Pancras since 2015, and was previously Director of Public Prosecutions from 2008 to 2013. He ideologically identifies as progressive and as being part of the centre-ground.

Starmer was born in London and raised in Surrey, where he attended the selective state Reigate Grammar School, which became a private school while he was a student. He graduated with a Bachelor of Laws degree from the University of Leeds in 1985 and gained a postgraduate Bachelor of Civil Law degree at St Edmund Hall at the University of Oxford in 1986. After being called to the bar, Starmer practised predominantly in criminal defence work, specialising in human rights. He became a member of Doughty Street Chambers in 1990 and was appointed as Queen's Counsel (QC) in 2002. Between 2008 and 2013, he was Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) and Head of the Crown Prosecution Service On conclusion of his five-year term as DPP, 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.

Elected to the House of Commons at the 2015 general election, Starmer was appointed Shadow Minister for Immigration by the new party leader, Jeremy Corbyn, in September 2015. He resigned in 2016 as part of the wider June 2016 shadow cabinet resignations in protest at Corbyn's leadership, but accepted a new post under Corbyn that year as Shadow Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union following the EU membership referendum. Starmer advocated a second referendum on Brexit, in which he stated he would vote to remain. This policy was included in the 2019 Labour election platform.

After the Labour Party was defeated at the 2019 general election, Corbyn resigned as Leader of the Labour Party. In April 2020, Starmer was elected to replace him. His leadership has been characterised by movement towards the political centre and abandonment of much of the left-wing platform of his leadership campaign. Starmer emphasised the importance of eliminating antisemitism in the Labour Party, and his antisemitism reforms resulted in the party no longer being monitored by the Equality and Human Rights Commission. In 2023, Starmer set out five missions for a Labour government, targeting issues such as economic growth, health, clean energy, crime and education. Since late 2021, the party has maintained leads in opinion polling over the Conservative Party, often by very wide margins. Starmer has led his party in the 2024 general election.