Keir Starmer, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
Sir Keir Rodney Starmer is the 58th Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, in office since 5 July 2024. He leads the Labour Party’s first majority government since the Blair–Brown era, after the 4 July 2024 general election delivered Labour 411 of the 650 seats in the House of Commons — its largest parliamentary majority since 1945 — against a collapsed Conservative Party that returned just 121 MPs, its worst result in modern history. Starmer had led Labour in opposition since 4 April 2020, pivoting it sharply back to the political centre after the Jeremy Corbyn era and overseeing the expulsion of the former leader in March 2024.
Starmer was born on 2 September 1962 in Southwark, London, to a toolmaker father and a nurse mother, and raised in Oxted, Surrey. He read law at Leeds and Oxford, was called to the Bar in 1987, and built a reputation as a leading human-rights barrister — co-founding Doughty Street Chambers in 1990. He served as Director of Public Prosecutions and head of the Crown Prosecution Service from 2008 to 2013, overseeing prosecutions including the MPs’ expenses scandal, and was knighted KCB in the 2014 Birthday Honours. Elected MP for Holborn and St Pancras in 2015, he served as Shadow Brexit Secretary under Corbyn (2016–2020) before winning the Labour leadership in April 2020.
The 2024 Landslide and Cabinet
Labour’s campaign — anchored on “change,” fiscal stability and NHS repair — won a 174-seat majority despite capturing just 33.7% of the popular vote, a mathematical curiosity of the split right. Starmer named Rachel Reeves as Chancellor of the Exchequer (the UK’s first female holder of the office in its 800-year history), Yvette Cooper as Home Secretary, David Lammy as Foreign Secretary and Angela Rayner as Deputy Prime Minister. A September 2025 reshuffle moved Cooper to the Foreign Office, with Shabana Mahmood taking Home, and saw Rayner resign over a property-tax affair, replaced as Deputy PM by David Lammy.
Fiscal Stabilisation and Reeves Budgets
The October 2024 Autumn Budget raised taxes by roughly £40 billion — the largest single fiscal tightening since 1993 — chiefly through increased employer National Insurance contributions, reformed agricultural and business property reliefs on inheritance tax, and extensions to the energy profits levy. The November 2025 Budget layered in further revenue measures to close an estimated £20 billion fiscal gap. Growth has remained subdued at around 1.1% in 2024 and 1.3% in 2025; inflation, which fell to the 2% target in mid-2024, rose again through 2025 on Middle East-driven oil prices and has hovered at 3.2% into early 2026. The Bank of England base rate stands at 3.75% after a series of cautious cuts from the 5.25% peak.
Foreign Policy
Starmer’s government has maintained strong support for Ukraine — including signing a 100-year partnership treaty with Kyiv in January 2025 and hosting coalition-of-the-willing summits throughout 2025 — while rebuilding close EU relations short of re-entry. The May 2025 UK–EU summit in London produced a new security-and-defence partnership, a veterinary agreement simplifying agri-food trade, and a youth mobility scheme. Relations with the Trump administration have been formally cordial but substantively strained over tariffs and Ukraine policy; an October 2025 US–UK Economic Prosperity Deal reduced reciprocal tariffs on steel, autos and pharmaceuticals. The UK remains a nuclear NATO member, a permanent UN Security Council member, and a core intelligence-sharing Five Eyes partner.
Politics: Reform UK’s Rise
The defining political event of the 2024–25 period has been the rise of Nigel Farage’s Reform UK, which won 14.3% of the vote in 2024 on just 5 seats but has consistently led national polls above 28% since mid-2025. Reform’s gains in the May 2025 English local elections — winning 677 councillors and control of ten county and unitary councils — have pressured the Conservative Party’s post-Sunak leader Kemi Badenoch. A 2026 general election is not required until August 2029; Labour’s working majority has held, though by-election losses and internal rebellions have tightened discipline significantly.
| Full name | Sir Keir Rodney Starmer KCB KC MP |
|---|---|
| Born | 2 September 1962 · Southwark, London (age 63) |
| Office | Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (58th) |
| In office since | 5 July 2024 |
| Predecessor | Rishi Sunak (2022–2024) |
| Party | Labour Party (leader since 4 April 2020) |
| 2024 election | Labour 411 seats (33.7% vote); 174-seat majority |
| Head of state | King Charles III |
| Capital | London |
| Human rights rating | Freedom House: Free (91/100) |
Frequently asked questions
Who is the current prime minister of the UK in 2026?
Sir Keir Starmer has been Prime Minister since 5 July 2024, the day after Labour won the 4 July 2024 general election with 411 Commons seats and a 174-seat majority. He is the 58th holder of the office and the first Labour prime minister since Gordon Brown in 2010.
How old is Keir Starmer?
Starmer was born on 2 September 1962 in Southwark, London, and is 63 years old as of April 2026.
When will the next UK election be held?
Under the Dissolution and Calling of Parliament Act 2022, the latest date for the next general election is 15 August 2029. The prime minister can call an earlier election, and the current Reform-UK-driven polling turbulence means speculation about a pre-2029 vote is recurrent.
Who is in Starmer’s top cabinet?
Chancellor: Rachel Reeves (first female in 800 years). Deputy PM: David Lammy (replaced Angela Rayner in September 2025). Home Secretary: Shabana Mahmood. Foreign Secretary: Yvette Cooper. Defence Secretary: John Healey.
What was Starmer’s career before politics?
Starmer was a human-rights barrister who co-founded Doughty Street Chambers in 1990, and served as Director of Public Prosecutions from 2008 to 2013. He was knighted KCB in 2014 for services to law and criminal justice and first elected MP for Holborn and St Pancras in May 2015.