Keir Starmer

Sir Keir Starmer is the Labour MP for Holborn and St Pancras and leader of the Labour party. Starmer was born in Southwark and was named after Labour party founder, James Keir Hardie. A graduate of the University of Leeds and St Edmund Hall, Oxford, Starmer has acquired both a Bachelor of Laws and a Bachelor of Civil Law. After leaving education, Keir entered the legal field, becoming a human rights barrister in 1987. During his time as a young barrister, he worked on numerous important cases including the famous “McLibel” litigation. In 2008, Starmer was appointed as the head of the Crown Prosecution Service, by the then-attorney general Patricia Scotland. Throughout his time as head of the CPS, Starmer was tasked with making many important, yet sometimes controversial decisions. His achievements as a human-rights lawyer also include helping to eradicate the death penalty in a number of countries. Starmer began his parliamentary career in 2014 when he was chosen to succeed Frank Dobson in campaigning for the safe seat of Holborn and St Pancras to which he was elected in 2015. As an MP, Starmer has held key roles within shadow government including shadow Brexit secretary, where he has criticised the government’s approach to negotiations and favoured a second referendum to break the Brexit logjam in contrast to some Labour frontbench colleagues. He was elected Labour leader in April 2020 – his primary concern as leader of the opposition has been the government’s response to covid, which he has deemed a disaster.