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Well, it's finally happened. After 15 years, the Tories are out, and Labour is in. Sir Keir Starmer is our new Prime Minister and Victoria Starmer is our new ‘first lady’. So, who is our new “reluctant First Lady,” as she has been dubbed? And how exactly will she be involved in our political landscape for the next four years?
Born in London in the '70s, Victoria Starmer grew up in north west London. Her father was an economics lecturer whose Jewish family had emigrated from Poland, while her mother was a doctor. Victoria studied at Cardiff University where she earned a degree in law and sociology. She went on to train as a solicitor and worked at Hodge Jones & Allen, a London law firm. She now works in NHS occupational health and has declared her intention to continue in her role now that her husband has been elected as Prime Minister. “I get a direct line of sight on a daily basis into the challenges of the NHS and the morale of the staff”, Keir once said of her job. “She loves working for the NHS. She loves the team that she's working with.”
Victoria and Keir met over the phone when both were solicitors. Keir reportedly called her to question documents. As he hung up, he recalled hearing her say, “Who the f**k does he think he is?”
“You might think, ‘Not the best of starts,’ but it was absolutely classic Vic,” Keir said to British Vogue of their meeting. “Very sassy, very down to earth, no nonsense from anyone, including from me.”
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Carolyn Harris, formerly the Labour MP for Swansea East, added, “That’s very much Vic.” Asked to describe her, she said, “Irreverent is the word I’d use. She is a litmus paper, literally the yin to his yang.”
The pair later met again at a legal dinner and Keir found her to be “grounded, sassy, funny, streetwise — and utterly gorgeous too," as he told The Times.
The Starmers married in 2007 and have two teenaged children, 16-year-old son and a 13 year-old daughter. The family live in Camden, but will be moving into Downing Street now that Keir has been elected.
"If it happens, I won’t want to leave Kentish Town,” she previously said to The Times of the prospective move, adding, “We always deal with stuff that comes at us when we have to, one thing at a time. I don’t think Keir will be any different. He’s always been the same. He’ll push through the hard stuff because it’s how to get things done. And we’ll do what we need to do too.”
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