Who is Keir Starmer, the elected leader of the Labour Party?

Keir Starmer, the 61-year-old leader of the center-left Labour Party, is currently the leading candidate in the UK's July 4 election.

He spent four years as opposition leader. His message to voters was that a Labor government would bring economic and political stability.

British Labour Party leader Keir Starmer. Photo: AP

A barrister who served as chief prosecutor for England and Wales from 2008 to 2013, Mr Starmer was once derided by opponents as a “London left-wing barrister”. He was knighted for his role leading the Crown Prosecution Service.

Mr Starmer prefers to be modest about his qualifications and background, in stark contrast to Chancellor Rishi Sunak, a former Goldman Sachs banker who married the daughter of a billionaire.

Mr Starmer loves football, still plays it at weekends, and likes nothing better than watching Premier League side Arsenal with a pint in the local pub. He and his wife Victoria, who works in occupational medicine, have two teenage children.

Born in 1963, Mr Starmer is the son of a toolmaker and a nurse, who named him after the first Labour leader, Keir Hardie. He was one of four children in a deprived family in a small town outside London.

"These are tough times. I know what it's like to have inflation out of control, to have the cost of living so high that you can't wait to see the mailman and wonder if he'll bring you another bill you can't afford," he said in his campaign launch speech.

Mr Starmer’s mother suffered from a chronic illness and he has said that visiting and caring for her in hospital helped shape his strong support for the state-funded National Health Service.

He was the first member of his family to go to university, studying law at Leeds and Oxford Universities, and practised human rights law before being appointed chief prosecutor.

He entered politics at the age of 50 and was elected to Parliament in 2015. He has often clashed with party leader Jeremy Corbyn. After Mr Corbyn led the Labour Party to election defeats in 2017 and 2019, the Labour Party chose Mr Starmer to lead the reconstruction effort.

His leadership coincided with a tumultuous period that saw the UK go through the COVID-19 pandemic, leave the EU, suffer the economic shock of the Russia-Ukraine conflict and endure the economic turmoil of Liz Truss's tumultuous 49-day premiership in 2022.

Mr Starmer was a vocal opponent of the UK's decision to leave the European Union, although he has now said Labour will not seek to reverse the decision. He promised "a cultural change within the Labour Party".

Mr Starmer now has to convince voters that a Labour government can ease the UK’s chronic housing crisis while fixing crumbling public services, especially the health service, without imposing tax rises or adding to the public debt.

At the party congress in October, he showed his fierce passion, telling cheering delegates: "I grew up working class. I've fought all my life. And I'm not going to stop now."

Ngoc Anh (according to AP)

Source: https://www.congluan.vn/keir-starmer-lanh-dao-dang-lao-dong-duoc-du-bao-se-thang-trong-cuoc-bau-cu-tai-vuong-quoc-anh-la-ai-post301442.html