Who is Keir Starmer, the man set to become next British Prime Minister as Labour wins UK elections?

Keir Starmer will become Britain's next Prime Minister on Friday as his Labour Party won a massive majority in the UK's parliamentary election. Rishi Sunak conceded defeat in the national election on Friday.

Earlier today, centre-left Labour was on course to capture 410 of the 650 seats in parliament, an astonishing reversal of fortunes from five years ago when it suffered its worst performance since 1935.
 

Former human rights attorney and public prosecutor Keir Starmer, the leader of the UK Labour Party, will need to direct his unwavering work ethic and analytical intellect into mending the nation.

After Sunak announced his loss, 61-year-old Starmer—who was just voted to parliament nine years ago—will become the oldest prime minister of a British province in over fifty years.

In 2003, he began moving towards the establishment, shocking colleagues and friends, first with a job ensuring police in Northern Ireland complied with human rights legislation.
 

He was named director of public prosecutions (DPP) for England and Wales five years later, during the tenure of Labour's Gordon Brown as prime minister.

Starmer handled the prosecution of teenage rioters involved in unrest around England between 2008 and 2013, as well as the prosecution of journalists for phone hacking and MPs misusing their allowances.

In 2015, he was elected as a member of Parliament, representing a constituency in left-leaning north London. Queen Elizabeth II knighted him, but he doesn't often use the prefix "Sir".

Just weeks before he was elected, his mother died of a rare disease of the joints that had left her unable to walk for many years.

In 2020, following the party's most devastating loss in 85 years in the general election, Keir Starmer was chosen to lead the Labour Party in the United Kingdom.

Unquestionably, Starmer and Labour have also profited from years of political unrest and economic suffering under the Conservative Party, which is expected to lose its legislative majority.

Keir Rodney Starmer was born on September 2, 1962, and was reared by an emotionally distant father and a critically ill mother in a small, semi-detached home on the outskirts of London. One of his three siblings struggled with learning. His parents were philanthropists who worked to save donkeys.

Starmer was a gifted musician who studied violin at school under Norman Cook, the bassist from the Housemartins who later became DJ Fatboy Slim.

Following his legal education at the Universities of Leeds and Oxford, Starmer focused on socialist causes, representing overseas death row convicts, labour unions, and anti-McDonald's campaigners.

He detailed a wild lunch he had with Amal Clooney and her Hollywood star husband George, and the two became friends throughout their time working at the same legal firm.

Labour, out of power since 2010, has pledged to "make Brexit work" and seek "an ambitious" security pact with the European Union.  His manifesto included a commitment to pursue a "new strategic partnership" with India, emphasizing the trade agreement.