Sir Keir Rodney Starmer is a British politician who has served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom since 2024 and as Leader of the Labour Party since 2020. He previously served as Leader of the Opposition from 2020 to 2024. He has been Member of Parliament (MP) for Holborn and St Pancras since 2015, and was Director of Public Prosecutions from 2008 to 2013.
In November 2024 Starmer met Chinese leader Xi Jinping at the G20 summit in Rio de Janeiro and told him he wanted to build a ‘consistent, durable, respectful’ relationship with China.
Starmer’s policing work in Northern Ireland influenced him to pursue a political career, and he was elected to the House of Commons at the 2015 general election. He supported the Remain campaign in the 2016 European Union membership referendum and advocated a proposed second referendum on Brexit. He served in Jeremy Corbyn’s Shadow Cabinet as Shadow Brexit Secretary, and following Corbyn’s resignation after Labour’s defeat at the 2019 general election, Starmer succeeded him by winning the 2020 leadership election. As Leader of the Opposition he moved Labour towards the political centre and emphasised the elimination of antisemitism within the party, and his party made significant gains in the 2023 and 2024 local elections.
