KEIR Starmer is the leader of Labour party after winning more than 50 per cent of the popular vote in April 2020.
The MP for Holborn and St Pancras is fiercely private about his personal life- but who was Starmer’s dad Rodney?
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Who was Keir Starmer’s dad Rodney?
Keir Starmer is the son of Rodney and Josephine Starmer and he was the second of four children.
The family lived in Surrey and were strong supporters of the Labour party, naming their son after the party’s first parliamentary leader- Keir Hardie- although they would not talk about politics at the dinner table.
The Starmer’s lived in Surrey, with Josephine working as a nurse and Rodney working as a toolmaker in a factory.
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Rodney Starmer would work 14-hour days, taking his lunch break at 17:00 for his dinner, before resuming work in the long evenings.
Keir’s father dedicated much of his time taking care of his wife, who had struggled with ill health for much of her life due to Still’s disease.
When did Rodney Starmer die?
Josephine Starmer died in 2015.
Rodney Starmer died three years later in 2018.
What has Keir Starmer said about his dad?
During an interview with BBC Radio 4 Keir described his father as a hard-working yet difficult man.
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Starmer said: “I don’t often talk about my dad. He was a difficult man, a complicated man.”
“He kept himself to himself. He didn’t particularly like to socialise, so he wouldn’t really go out very much.”
“he had this utter commitment and devotion to my mum.”
“My mum was very, very ill all of her life and my dad knew exactly the symptoms of everything that might possibly go wrong with my mum.”
“He stopped drinking completely just in case he ever needed to go to the hospital with her.”
