Published 20:28 IST, April 4th 2020
Keir Starmer: Here's everything to know about UK Labour Party's new leader
Marking the end of Jeremy Corbyn’s five-year-old leadership of UK’s Labour Party, Keir Starmer has been elected as the new leader with 56.2 per cent votes.
Marking the end of Jeremy Corbyn’s five-year-old leadership of UK’s Labour Party, Keir Starmer has been elected as the new leader after defeating Lisa Nandy and Rebecca Long-Bailey on April 4.
The 57-year-old new leader of the Labour Party won 56.2 per cent votes and has assured to lead the “great party into a new era”. Starmer described himself as a socialist but not a ‘Corbynite’ and has pledged to keep the primary policies from the era of Corbyn including nationalising rail, mail, and water.
Who is Keir Starmer?
Having been named as the head of the Crown Prosecution Service and Director of Public Prosecutions in 2008, and receiving a knighthood in 2014 for his service, Starmer won a seat in the British Parliament in the election of 2015 with reportedly a majority of more than 17,000.
He supported the now-Mayor of the Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, to finally become the leader of the Labour Party but it was Jeremy Corbyn who had won that race.
Therefore, in the aftermath of the election, Corbyn had appointed him as a shadow Home Office minister. However, Starmer had stepped down from the position in 2016 and joined hands with other lawmakers who were resigning to showcase resistance only to join again after a year as shadow Brexit secretary.
Most of his core time in the UK Parliament was surrounded with the debates and discussions on Britain’s exit from the European Union and he had backed the remaining EU nations throughout.
The new Labour Party leader had even campaigned for former UK Prime Minister Theresa May and her plans with Brexit before she initiated the negotiations. According to reports, some people believe that Starmer was the driving force of UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s Conservative Party’s biggest Opposition’s change in position ahead of 2019 elections.
Earlier saying that he would back the EU, now Starmer’s main concern would revolve around striking a trade deal with the union while protecting the rights of the workers among other things.
Updated 20:28 IST, April 4th 2020