1. Keir Starmer is set to become Britain’s next Prime Minister, with Labour predicted to win a massive majority.
2. An exit poll indicates significant gains for Labour and historic losses for Rishi Sunak’s Conservatives.
3. The poll forecasts a major power shift, ending 14 years of Conservative-led government.
London, July 05: Keir Starmer is set to become Britain’s next Prime Minister on Friday, with his Labour Party predicted to win a massive majority in the parliamentary election, according to an exit poll. The poll indicates that Rishi Sunak’s Conservatives will face historic losses.
The centre-left Labour Party is expected to capture 410 of the 650 seats in parliament, a remarkable turnaround from five years ago when the party had its worst performance since 1935. This result would give Labour a 170-seat majority, ending 14 years of Conservative-led government.
Who is Keir Starmer?
UK Labour leader Keir Starmer, a former human rights lawyer and public prosecutor, will need to apply his relentless work ethic and methodical mind to fixing the country.
If the exit polls are accurate, 61-year-old Starmer will become the oldest person to assume the role of British Prime Minister in nearly half a century, just nine years after being first elected to parliament.
In 2003, he moved towards the establishment by taking a job ensuring that police in Northern Ireland complied with human rights legislation. Five years later, he was appointed director of public prosecutions (DPP) for England and Wales under Labour Prime Minister Gordon Brown.
Between 2008 and 2013, Starmer prosecuted MPs for expenses abuse, journalists for phone hacking, and young rioters involved in unrest across England.
Knighted by Queen Elizabeth II, Starmer rarely uses the title “Sir”. He was elected as a Member of Parliament in 2015, representing a seat in left-leaning north London. His mother passed away from a rare joint disease just weeks before his election.
In 2020, Starmer was elected leader of the Labour Party, following its worst general election defeat in 85 years. Under his leadership, Labour has capitalized on economic hardships and political turmoil under the Conservative Party, which is now expected to lose its parliamentary majority.
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Personal Life
Born on September 2, 1962, Keir Rodney Starmer was raised in a modest home on the outskirts of London by a seriously ill mother and an emotionally distant father. He had three siblings, one of whom had learning difficulties. His parents, who loved animals, rescued donkeys.
Starmer, a talented musician, had violin lessons with Norman Cook, the former Housemartins bassist who became DJ Fatboy Slim.
After studying law at the universities of Leeds and Oxford, he focused on leftist causes, defending trade unions, anti-McDonald’s activists, and death row inmates abroad.
He is friends with human rights lawyer Amal Clooney from their time at the same legal practice and once recounted a boozy lunch with her and her actor husband George Clooney.
