Britain's Labour Party is the favourite to win the country's July 4 general election, which would see its leader, Keir Starmer, become prime minister. Starmer has transformed the party since he took over in hopes of bringing Labour back into power after 14 years in opposition. But his journey from a left-wing human rights lawyer to a centrist pragmatist has left some wondering who he really is, and what his party will do in government if elected.
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00It is the honour and the privilege of my life to be elected as leader of the Labour Party.
00:08After Britain's Labour Party lost the 2019 general election, Keir Starmer was elected
00:12leader promising to continue the left-wing policies of his predecessor, Jeremy Corbyn.
00:18But these were swiftly abandoned.
00:20And after accusations of anti-Semitism, Corbyn himself was expelled from the party.
00:25If you're anti-Semitic, you shouldn't be in the Labour Party.
00:29It's as simple as that.
00:32Supporters see Starmer's move towards the centre as pragmatic and believe without it,
00:37Labour would still be unelectable after 14 years in opposition.
00:41But critics question what Starmer's guiding principles really are.
00:45Born to working-class parents and growing up in a Conservative voting town near London,
00:50Starmer was named after Keir Hardie, a founding father of the Labour Party.
00:55He was shaped by his mother's struggle with a rare autoimmune disease that left her disabled.
01:00I think he learned that anyone could be struck down by misfortune in life and that they needed
01:04the help of the state in order to help them through the crisis.
01:09I think that means that he sees the state as an enabler and something that should be
01:14there as a safety net for people.
01:16And if that requires some redistribution, then so be it.
01:20After university, he joined a law firm specialising in human rights cases.
01:25He defended foreign death row inmates and became known for cases such as the McLibel trial,
01:29defending critics of the McDonald's burger chain.
01:33In 2003, he took a government job, ensuring police in Northern Ireland complied with human
01:38rights law.
01:39And in 2008, he was appointed Director of Public Prosecutions.
01:44Former colleague Gavin Miller explains why Starmer went from championing underdogs to
01:48running the system.
01:50Ultimately, if you can use those skills, that knowledge, that experience within the
01:54system to protect them, it's much better than standing outside and railing at the system
02:01from the outside.
02:03You can probably achieve much more doing that.
02:05Moving into politics, he became a Labour MP, quickly rising up the ranks to shadow Brexit
02:10minister.
02:12But there was always doubt about his support for the hard-left policies of leader Jeremy
02:16Corbyn, and in a recent interview, he said he only campaigned for Corbyn in the 2019
02:20election because he knew he wouldn't win.
02:24Since taking over as leader, he's moved the party rightwards, with members of the left
02:28wing of the party protesting at keynote speeches.
02:36Far ahead in the polls, Labour have run a guarded election campaign, happy to let Rishi
02:40Sunak's Conservatives make their own missteps.
02:44But this has left some doubts about how Starmer would actually govern.
02:47I think we'll only see the real Keir Starmer once he gets into Downing Street.
02:50Clearly he hasn't made too many promises and not inflated expectations in order to try
02:56and win the election.
02:58The party has made some bold pledges, such as to re-nationalise the railways and set
03:03up an energy company to invest in green power.
03:06But Labour have promised to stick to Conservative Party spending plans until growth returns.
03:11If he does get into 10 Downing Street, Keir Starmer will face strict self-imposed limits
03:16on how much he can spend to transform Britain.