Keir Starmer

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‘The first serious and consistently readable biography of Starmer?It is a wonder that he has said so much to Baldwin’ PATRICK MAGUIRE, THE TIMES

‘This will be the most important political book of the year’ MATTHEW D’ANCONA, EVENING STANDARD

This authoritative – but not authorised – biography by Tom Baldwin provides answers by drawing deeply on many hours of interviews with the Labour leader himself, as well as unprecedented access to members of his family, his oldest friends and closest colleagues.

Together, they tell an unexpectedly intimate story filled with feelings of grief and love that has driven him on more than any rigid ideology or loyalty to a particular faction.

The book tracks Starmer’s emergence from a troubled small town background and rebellious youth, through a storied legal career as a human rights barrister and the country’s chief prosecutor, to becoming an MP relatively late in life.

Baldwin provides a vivid and compelling account of how this untypical politician then rose to be leader of his party in succession to Jeremy Corbyn, then transformed it with a ruthless rapidity that has enraged opponents from the left just as much as it has bewildered those on the right.

Above all, this is a book that should be read by anyone who wants to understand how someone who has too often been underestimated or dismissed as dull, now intends to change Britain.

‘Highly readable? Baldwin has peeled back more layers than anyone else. The Labour leader comes across as a man of decency and as much integrity as premier league politics permits. But he is also a man who hates losing, and his defining traits are determination and ambition.’

ROBERT SHRIMSLEY, FINANCIAL TIMES

‘Tom Baldwin’s portrait is off a tough, conscientious, and kindly man with the right values, a genuine dislike of class snobbery, and a huge unusually focused drive. From what I know this is an accurate portrait.’

ANDREW MARR, NEW STATESMAN