Home Featured Days from power, Keir Starmer remains a mystery to Britain – POLITICO
Days from power, Keir Starmer remains a mystery to Britain – POLITICO

Days from power, Keir Starmer remains a mystery to Britain – POLITICO

by host

Many voters are in the dark about aspects of Starmer’s background, despite his concerted efforts during the past five weeks of the election campaign to open up about his family, his values and his motivations in a bid to appear more relatable.

At the same time, people appear deeply split over what Starmer can offer the country as prime minister, bolstering accusations that have dogged him throughout his time as Labour leader that he has not presented a clear policy offer and has a tendency to backtrack on his own decisions.

Denise Baron, associate director at Public First, said the research painted a picture of “someone the public are quietly hoping does a more competent job” than Conservative prime ministers who have run the U.K. for the last 14 years, but “there is no great wave of hope, nor a sense that radical change is coming.”

A poll by Public First shared with POLITICO suggests the opposition Labour leader remains a mystery for much of the population. | Oli Scarff/Getty Images

Oblivious to his love of football

Almost a quarter of respondents in the survey said they thought Starmer had worked in politics his entire life, despite his long career as a top barrister culminating in a spell running the country’s prosecution service.

Attempts by Labour strategists to highlight Starmer’s humble roots — he has repeatedly shared his experiences as a child as his parents struggled to pay the bills — seem not to have cut through either, with 62 percent insisting Starmer had “never had to worry about money.”

Fifty-six percent of respondents either incorrectly said Starmer — a committed Arsenal supporter who regularly plays five-a-side — was not a football fan, or that they didn’t know either way.

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