Keir Starmer MP
Leader of the Labour Party
Keir Starmer is a husband, father, and former Chief Prosecutor. He grew up in a small town called Oxted, in Surrey, and his dad worked as a toolmaker in a factory and his mum a nurse for the NHS. Keir studied law at Leeds University - in doing so becoming the first in his family to go to university - and in 1987 qualified as a lawyer and began working as a barrister.
At the start of his career, Keir spent a lot of his time providing free legal advice defending ordinary people against the powerful. He worked on some high-profile cases, taking on fights against the odds with Shell and McDonalds, as well as working with the National Union of Mineworkers to prevent the Tories’ pit closures. Later in life, Keir’s drive to make the world a fairer place saw him enter politics. He was first elected to Parliament in 2015, at the age of 52. He serves as the member for Holborn and St Pancras, where he has lived for many years with his family.
Achievements
Keir’s entire career has been about securing justice for those that need it.
From representing people on death row as a human rights lawyer, to acting as legal advisor to the Northern Ireland Policing Board – an important part of bringing communities together following the Good Friday Agreement.
In 2008, Keir became Director of Public Prosecutions, putting him at the head of the Crown Prosecution Service and its thousands of employees. During his time there, he was involved in seeing through some important cases that had a big impact on society to this day. He helped bring Stephen Lawrence’s murderers to justice, changed the guidance to better support for victims of sexual and domestic violence, and prosecuted MPs for misuse of expenses. He received a knighthood in 2014 for his services to criminal justice.
Keir entered Parliament in 2015, and served as Shadow Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union (2016-2020) and Shadow Immigration Minister (2015-2016). In April 2020, he was elected as Leader of the Labour Party. He is determined to lead a mission-driven UK Labour Government that will work with our Welsh Labour Government to put the interests of Wales first.