Who Is Sir Keir Starmer - Why Is He a Sir?

Why is Keir Starmer a Sir?

Sir Keir Starmer was knighted for his previous service as Director of Public Prosecutions. Starmer was mad a Sir in the 2014 New Years Honours. His knighthood has been said to make Starmer appear posh in the eyes of some who are unware of his back story.

Who is Keir Starmer?

Named after the founder and first leader of the Labour Party (Keir Hardie), Sir Keir Starmer is now himself Labour party leader and, in turn, Leader of Her Majesty’s Opposition.

Sir Keir Starmer was first elected as the Labour MP for Holborn and St Pancras in 2015, and was reelected in 2019 with a majority of 27,763.

He served in the Shadow Cabinet as Shadow Brexit Secretary under Jeremy Corbyn, placing him at the heart Labour’s front bench during the tumultuous years of the UK’s exit from the EU.

In 2020, Starmer was voted Britain’s second sexiest MP, losing out in the contest, to the Chancellor, Rishi Sunak.

Before getting into politics, Starmer was a high-profile defence-lawyer. In 2008, he was appointed Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) and Head of the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS). He held these roles until 2013. For his service as Director of Public Prosecutions, Starmer was knighted in the 2014 New Years Honours.

Starmer married solicitor Victoria Alexander in 2007 and the couple have two children.

Where was Sir Keir Starmer Born?

Sir Keir Starmer was born in 1962 in Southwark. His father was a toolmaker and his mother was a nurse. Growing up in Surrey, Sir Keir Starmer passed the 11+ exam and attended grammar school.

In later life, Starmer’s mother was diagnosed with Still’s disease, an incurable autoimmune condition.

Keir Starmer Education

Sir Keir Starmer was educated at Redhill Grammar School. Amongst his contempories at school was the musician Norman Cook, otherwise known as ‘Fat Boy Slim’.

Starmer then graduated with a Bachelor of Laws from the University of Leeds in 1985, before moving onto post-graduate qualifications at St Edmund Hall, Oxford.

In June 2021,after initially claiming he spent his university days in the library, Starmer later admitted to Piers Morgan that he had had a ‘very good time at university’. Starmer refused to answer Morgan’s repeated questioning as to whether this had included taking drugs.

Keir Starmer Previous Career

Sir Keir then became a barrister focusing on human rights law. Among many cases, Starmer worked on legal battles to get rid of the death penalty in the Caribbean and Africa, and the famous McLibel case involving MacDonalds.

In 2005, he persuaded the House of Lords that evidence obtained by torture should be inadmissible in court.

In 2008, Starmer was named the new head of the Crown Prosecution Service and Director of Public Prosecutions. During this time, Starmer prosecuted the two men accused of murdering 18-year-old Stephen Lawrence.

After standing down from his roles in 2013, Starmer refused to deny the possibility of entering politics – and he was chosen to stand as candidate the following year

Starmer was awarded a knighthood in 2014 for services to law and criminal justice.

Political Career

Following his election to the House of Commons at the 2015 General Election, Starmer was appointed shadow Minister for Immigration before resigning in 2016 in protest at Corbyn’s leadership.

Starmer judged at the time. that it was ‘simply untenable now to suggest we can offer an effective opposition without a change of leader’.

Following the 2016 ‘No Confidence’ vote and Corbyn’s victory in the subsequent leadership election, the then-Leader of the Opposition appointed Starmer as shadow Brexit Secretary. Starmer had backed ‘Remain’ in the 2016 referendum and he focused his efforts on pushing for government transparency during the Brexit process.

Starmer endorsed a ‘second referendum’ policy at the 2018 Labour Party conference in Liverpool. This position then became Labour Party policy for the 2019 General Election.

Leader of the Opposition

Following Labour’s defeat at the 2019 General Election, Jeremy Corbyn announced he would stand down as Leader of the Labour Party. Starmer soon declared his candidacy for the role and quickly assumed the position of frontrunner.

During the race, Sir Keir pledged to unite the Labour Party and also ‘retain the radicalism of the last four years’. He also vowed to unite the party and end anti-Semitism within it.

Starmer went on to win the contest on 4 April 2020 handily – with 56.2% of the vote in the first round.

Having become leader during the beginnings of the COVID-19 pandemic, in a virtual speech Starmer said he would refrain from ‘scoring party political points’ and that he planned to ‘engage constructively with the government’.

Soon after becoming leader, Starmer sacked his former leadership rival, Rebecca Long-Bailey, from the shadow Cabinet. This followed accusations of antisemitism directed at the former shadow Secretary of State for Education.

Starmer also suspended his predecessor, Jeremy Corbyn, over the former Labour party leader’s response to the Equality and Human Rights Commission’s report into antisemitism in the party.

Keir Starmer Salary

In 2020 Keir Starmer earned £144,649 a year as Leader of the Opposition. This was commprised of his MPs salary of £79,468, and then an additional increment for his role as leader of the opposition.

During his first year in Parliament, the Register of Members Interests showed Sir Keir Starmer to have earned additional considerable sums from outside legal work. In 2015/2016 this was just under £200,000.

Things you may not know

Keir Starmer the footballer
Starmer plays football at an amateur level and supports Premier League side Arsenal Football Club. As a player, he has been variously described as a ‘midfield general’ with a silky left food.

In June 2021, Starmer told Piers Morgan that if he encountered Boris Johnson on the football field, he would in all likelihood, ‘knock him over’.

Keir Starmer the vegetarian
Starmer believes being vegetarian is ‘better for yourself and for the environment’.