Based on hundreds of hours of interviews with both Starmer himself and his friends and family, Baldwin's definitive biography of the British Prime Minister sheds much needed light on an enigmatic figure.
Keir Starmer: The Biography is an authoritative study of a man who now stands on the brink of becoming Britain's next Prime Minister. If he succeeds, Starmer will be the first Labour leader in a generation to win power, even though most voters still say they don’t know much about him.
It not only tells Starmer’s story but also examines the paradox of a politician often uncomfortable with politics, someone who is both remarkably ordinary and capable of defying all efforts to define him.
Intended for publication in the foothills of a General Election campaign where all aspects of his life will come under the most intense scrutiny, the book is the result of more than a hundred hours of interviews with Starmer himself, his family, his closest friends, his most senior lieutenants, as well as opponents both from the Conservative Party and within his own.
The book offers readers a fuller picture of his working class family and education, the values that drove him on through a career as a lawyer and public prosecutor, as well as his record since entering politics.
It provides new detail about the role he played in bitter battles over Brexit and antisemitism, shows how he has transformed his party’s fortunes, and offers insight about the way he would govern if he enters Downing Street in what will be the most straitened circumstances facing any new Prime Minister since the end of the Second World War.
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
ISBN: 9780008661021
Number of pages: 448
Weight: 720 g
Dimensions: 240 x 159 x 42 mm
'As well as being very well written, Baldwin obtained considerable access and he presents a compelling picture of what Starmer is like, and in particular how he was brought up. If you admire Starmer, you should definitely read it. And if you don’t like him, you should read it anyway, because he could be PM for the next 10 years and it may be a very long time before anyone produces a better or fairer account of what makes him tick' ANDREW SPARROW, GUARDIAN 'The access is so comprehensive and his subject so uncharacteristically candid that exploring this private world can almost feel prurient… At times it is unclear whether Starmer grasps the significance of what he has done in cooperating with this biography’ PATRICK MAGUIRE, THE TIMES 'Told with sensitivity and simplicity… The picture painted of Sir Keir’s motivations and make-up is skillfully done, with all the nuance kept in' BEN RILEY-SMITH, DAILY TELEGRAPH ‘A fair minded, unflashy biography…[of] our next serious Prime Minister. Watch this space. Attlee may have some competition’ ROBERT MCCRUM, INDEPENDENT ‘A highly informative, illuminating and insightful biography… the most complete portrait we have yet been offered’ OBSERVER
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