In London, Keir Starmer, a human rights lawyer turned Labor Party leader, has openly pledged to pursue a "new strategic partnership" with India, including an FTA, if he is given the mandate to form a US-led government. Labor in Thursday's general election. .
Sir Keir, who was knighted by the late Queen Elizabeth II for his services to law and criminal justice, spent much of his career in the legal profession before entering the world of politics, first elected as a Labor Member of Parliament in London in 2015.
The 61-year-old father of two teenage children, whom he and his NHS employee wife, Victoria, have chosen to keep out of the political spotlight, is credited with turning around the party's fortunes after one of his worse results in the surveys. in the 2019 general election on the brink of government. The other change Starmer worked on was trying to rebuild Labour's connection with the Indian diaspora, alienated during former leader Jeremy Corbyn's government over a perceived anti-India stance on Kashmir .
"Today I have a clear message for you all: this is a changed Labor Party," Starmer declared at the India Global Forum (IGF) last year, setting the tone for the party's India-UK outlook.
"What my Labor government will seek with India is a relationship based on our shared values of democracy and aspirations. That will seek a free trade agreement (FTA), we share that ambition, but also a new strategic partnership for global security, climate security, economic security," he said. This approach has been embedded in the party's 2024 election manifesto, which commits to pursuing a "new strategic partnership with India, including a free trade agreement, as well as deepening cooperation." cooperation in areas such as security, education, technology and climate change.”
During a visit to the Shree Swaminarayan temple in Kingsbury, north London, during the election campaign last week, he sought to reassure British Hindus that “there is absolutely no place for Hinduphobia in Britain”. It is a message he has been reiterating in recent years during Diwali and Holi celebrations, preparing the Labor Party to form a government after 14 years in opposition.
Born in London to a toolmaker father and an NHS nurse mother, Starmer grew up in the Surrey town of Oxted. He has spoken emotionally about his mother, Josephine, who suffered from the debilitating Still's disease to which she succumbed a few weeks before he became an MP for the first time in 2015. He believes he has inherited his mother's courage and determination and the strong work ethic of his father, Rodney, whose handiwork drives much of Starmer's vision of ensuring respect for those who work hard.
"I carry the lack of respect that my father felt because he worked in a factory, that really impacted him, that made him distance himself from the company and become quite isolated," he told 'The Sunday Times' in a recent interview.
"It's one of the reasons why I will never treat people with disrespect," he said. In televised election debates, Starmer has played second fiddle to Rishi Sunak's natural debating charm and is often criticized as being pretty boring. But like Sunak, he also has experience at Oxford University, where he studied law and rose through the ranks to be appointed Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) under a Labour-led government. He has often drawn on this experience as the country's chief prosecutor in debates in the House of Commons to claim that he has practical experience in dealing with criminal gangs.
As a new MP in 2016, the staunch anti-Brexiteer took on the key role of shadow Brexit secretary under then-leader Jeremy Corbyn and supported the latter to fight for what he said was the “future of the Labor Party”.
Following the 2019 general election debacle, he took over as party leader and has sought to distance himself from the previous party line to emphasize that the Labor Party under his leadership now has a fully-fledged manifesto that focuses on public concerns. key to building houses, growing the economy and fixing the NHS. On foreign policy, there is likely to be a high degree of continuity as Labor matches the Conservative stance on UK support for Ukraine in its current conflict with Russia. Some changes are expected in the approach to the Israel-Gaza crisis, as the Labor Party plans to stop arms sales to Israel and wants to move towards recognition of a Palestinian state.
The general sense of a Starmerite vision for the UK is that of a leader eager to fix things that, in his view, have been broken due to the “chaos” of various leadership changes within a divided Conservative Party in recent times. years.
“If you want change, you have to vote for it” – has been the central theme and message of his general election campaign. Although all opinion polls predict a so-called “supermajority” on the scale of 1997, when Blair achieved victory over John Major, Starmer's electoral strategy has been characterized by caution. The Labor leader has done everything in his power to maintain his party's clear lead in the run-up to the election. "If we have the chance, we will govern as we have changed the Labor Party - that is, take the country out of pretty poor situation it is in at the moment and seriously change it, so that at the end of the first term of a Labor government people will be able to say: 'You know what? I'm better off,'” he declared.
Sir Keir, who was knighted by the late Queen Elizabeth II for his services to law and criminal justice, spent much of his career in the legal profession before entering the world of politics, first elected as a Labor Member of Parliament in London in 2015.
The 61-year-old father of two teenage children, whom he and his NHS employee wife, Victoria, have chosen to keep out of the political spotlight, is credited with turning around the party's fortunes after one of his worse results in the surveys. in the 2019 general election on the brink of government. The other change Starmer worked on was trying to rebuild Labour's connection with the Indian diaspora, alienated during former leader Jeremy Corbyn's government over a perceived anti-India stance on Kashmir .
"Today I have a clear message for you all: this is a changed Labor Party," Starmer declared at the India Global Forum (IGF) last year, setting the tone for the party's India-UK outlook.
"What my Labor government will seek with India is a relationship based on our shared values of democracy and aspirations. That will seek a free trade agreement (FTA), we share that ambition, but also a new strategic partnership for global security, climate security, economic security," he said. This approach has been embedded in the party's 2024 election manifesto, which commits to pursuing a "new strategic partnership with India, including a free trade agreement, as well as deepening cooperation." cooperation in areas such as security, education, technology and climate change.”
During a visit to the Shree Swaminarayan temple in Kingsbury, north London, during the election campaign last week, he sought to reassure British Hindus that “there is absolutely no place for Hinduphobia in Britain”. It is a message he has been reiterating in recent years during Diwali and Holi celebrations, preparing the Labor Party to form a government after 14 years in opposition.
Born in London to a toolmaker father and an NHS nurse mother, Starmer grew up in the Surrey town of Oxted. He has spoken emotionally about his mother, Josephine, who suffered from the debilitating Still's disease to which she succumbed a few weeks before he became an MP for the first time in 2015. He believes he has inherited his mother's courage and determination and the strong work ethic of his father, Rodney, whose handiwork drives much of Starmer's vision of ensuring respect for those who work hard.
"I carry the lack of respect that my father felt because he worked in a factory, that really impacted him, that made him distance himself from the company and become quite isolated," he told 'The Sunday Times' in a recent interview.
"It's one of the reasons why I will never treat people with disrespect," he said. In televised election debates, Starmer has played second fiddle to Rishi Sunak's natural debating charm and is often criticized as being pretty boring. But like Sunak, he also has experience at Oxford University, where he studied law and rose through the ranks to be appointed Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) under a Labour-led government. He has often drawn on this experience as the country's chief prosecutor in debates in the House of Commons to claim that he has practical experience in dealing with criminal gangs.
As a new MP in 2016, the staunch anti-Brexiteer took on the key role of shadow Brexit secretary under then-leader Jeremy Corbyn and supported the latter to fight for what he said was the “future of the Labor Party”.
Following the 2019 general election debacle, he took over as party leader and has sought to distance himself from the previous party line to emphasize that the Labor Party under his leadership now has a fully-fledged manifesto that focuses on public concerns. key to building houses, growing the economy and fixing the NHS. On foreign policy, there is likely to be a high degree of continuity as Labor matches the Conservative stance on UK support for Ukraine in its current conflict with Russia. Some changes are expected in the approach to the Israel-Gaza crisis, as the Labor Party plans to stop arms sales to Israel and wants to move towards recognition of a Palestinian state.
The general sense of a Starmerite vision for the UK is that of a leader eager to fix things that, in his view, have been broken due to the “chaos” of various leadership changes within a divided Conservative Party in recent times. years.
“If you want change, you have to vote for it” – has been the central theme and message of his general election campaign. Although all opinion polls predict a so-called “supermajority” on the scale of 1997, when Blair achieved victory over John Major, Starmer's electoral strategy has been characterized by caution. The Labor leader has done everything in his power to maintain his party's clear lead in the run-up to the election. "If we have the chance, we will govern as we have changed the Labor Party - that is, take the country out of pretty poor situation it is in at the moment and seriously change it, so that at the end of the first term of a Labor government people will be able to say: 'You know what? I'm better off,'” he declared.
