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Journalism of Courage
As the run-up to the polls in the United Kingdom has begun, Leader of Opposition Keir Starmer is touted to be Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s primary challenger in the July 4 election.
Starmer has spent four years as opposition leader veering his social democratic party from the left towards the political middle ground and countering the Conservative Party (aka Tories) and Sunak on multiple occasions during the parliamentary debates.
Named after Keir Hardie, the Labour Party’s first leader, Starmer was raised in a small town outside of London, in a family which was cash-strapped and later on became the first member of his family to have studied in university. He studied law at Leeds University, followed by his post graduation from Oxford University.
He practised human rights law before being appointed chief prosecutor for England and Wales between 2008 and 2013 and is caricatured by opponents as a “lefty London lawyer.” He was knighted for his role leading the Crown Prosecution Service, and Conservative opponents like to use his title, Sir Keir Starner, to paint him as elite and out of touch.
He was elected to Parliament for a central London district in 2015, at an election that saw Labour defeated by the Conservatives. He also served as Labour’s Brexit spokesman under then-leader Jeremy Corbyn. Starmer vehemently opposed Britain’s decision to leave the European Union; however, he now says that the Labour government would not seek to reverse it.
After Labour’s election defeats in 2017 and 2019, the party picked Starmer to lead efforts to rebuild. According to AP news agency, Starmer promised “a culture change in the Labour Party.” His mantra is now “country before party.”
Married with two teenage children, Starmer stresses his everyman credentials, especially his love of soccer and support for the Premier League team Arsenal.
In an early campaign message to party members, describing the election as “the fight of our lives”, he said, “Labour will stop the chaos, turn the page and get Britain’s future back.”
Were Labour to win the election, Starmer would become Britain’s sixth prime minister in eight years, the first time that has happened since the 1830s, underscoring the level of turmoil that has gripped a country once known for its political stability and pragmatism.
As per The Guardian, the headline polls suggest that the Labour Party is poised to secure a comfortable majority in July polls with the party being 20 points ahead.
(With agency inputs)
