Who is Keir Starmer, Britain’s new prime ministerial candidate? – NBC 6 South Florida

• Labour leader Keir Starmer is the favourite to win the UK general election on 4 July.
• Starmer has worked as a human rights lawyer and has worked on high-profile cases including those against Shell, McDonald’s and former Conservative prime minister Margaret Thatcher’s mine closures.
• He was appointed Labour leader in 2020 and has pushed for major reforms to the party following the resignation of Jeremy Corbyn.

LONDON — After 14 years of turbulent Conservative rule, Britain’s Labour Party is returning to power this year in a move expected to send shock waves through the country’s politics.

The centre-left opposition pro-Brexit party, the Leave the EU Party, has a lead of around 20 points over the Conservative Party, led by current Chancellor Rishi Sunak, according to the latest YouGov poll. A poll of voting intentions conducted on 12 and 13 June showed Labour on 37%, the Conservatives on 18% and the Reform Party, led by Nigel Farage, the newly re-emerged leader of the Brexit camp, on 19%.

But who is Keir Starmer, leader of the Labour Party and the front-runner to become prime minister after the UK general election on 4 July, and what does he stand for?

Human rights lawyer turned politician

Sturmer was born in London, England in 1962 to a father who worked as a toolmaker and a mother who worked as a nurse.

The 61-year-old has often spoken about how his humble origins have given him a connection to the British people, and he says he has a deep gratitude for the National Health Service (NHS) after his mother’s lifelong battle with serious illness.

Starmer was the first in his family to go to university, studying law at Leeds University, and after postgraduate studies at Oxford he began working as a barrister in 1987, working on high-profile cases including those against Shell, McDonald’s and former Conservative prime minister Margaret Thatcher’s mine closures.

Starmer also served as a human rights adviser to former Labour prime minister Tony Blair during the Good Friday Agreement in Northern Ireland.

Starmer became director of public prosecutions, heading the Crown Prosecution Service, in 2008, a year after marrying his wife Victoria.

Starmer was knighted in 2014 for his services to criminal justice and elected to Parliament the following year, where he served as opposition immigration secretary and secretary of state for leaving the EU.

In 2020, he was appointed leader of the Labour Party and pushed for major reforms to the party following the resignation of Jeremy Corbyn, who led the party to a record defeat in the 2019 general election.

Pro-business, pro-reform, pro-EU

During the 2024 election campaign, Starmer is pitching it as a “decade of national renewal” after what Labour describes as years of spending cuts and falling living standards under Conservative governments.

In his party’s election manifesto published last week, Starmer outlined spending plans including creating a new national energy company, cutting NHS waiting times, building new homes and renationalising rail services.

But Trump has also positioned himself as staunchly pro-business, continuing his long-standing appeal to traditionally right-wing voters with plans for “wealth creation” and a national wealth fund.

“Economic growth and social justice must go hand in hand,” Starmer said at the manifesto launch event.

Labour has set five long-term missions if it takes power: boosting economic growth, investing in green energy, reforming the NHS, making cities safer and providing “opportunity” through a new skills scheme. A Labour source told the Financial Times that Starmer plans to overhaul government departments to achieve these goals.

Starmer, who voted to remain in the 2016 EU referendum, has promised to improve the “failed” UK-EU trade deal, including in areas such as trade, research and security, but insists there is no reason for Britain to rejoin the EU.

Is it a public image issue?

Despite his reform agenda, Starmer is seen by many as an establishment figure who lacks the charisma of other politicians: a YouGov poll conducted earlier this year ranked him second only to reformist Farage in popularity among the public, and his ratings fell even lower among younger voters.

Critics have also questioned Mr Starmer’s core values, including his decision to remain on Mr Corbyn’s top team after he faced accusations of anti-Semitism within the Labour Party – Mr Starmer later expelled him from the party – and some have accused him of betraying the left by cozying up to business leaders and abandoning campaign promises such as abolishing university tuition fees.

But after a tumultuous few years for British politics, which has seen three Conservative prime ministers in 2022 alone, Starmer’s supporters are praising him as a neutral figure who can bring stability after a period of great political turmoil.

—CNBC’s Katrina Bishop contributed to this report.