Keir Starmer wife: Meet Victoria Starmer - Britain's new First Lady
Keir Starmer wife: Meet Victoria Starmer
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Victoria Starmer, the wife of Labour leader and new Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, was seen kissing her husband after his party's landslide win, before stepping out with him to greet crowds - but who is Lady Starmer?
Nicknamed a “reluctant First Lady", she made the decision to stay largely out of the limelight in the lead-up to polling day, except for an appearance at Taylor Swift's Eras tour at Wembley Stadium last month.
However, Victoria will no longer be able to keep out of the limelight as she steps into the important new symbolic role. Beginning her new position in an appropriately coloured red dress, she stepped out with her husband after he was officially invited by King Charles to form the next Government.
Fondly nicknamed "Lady Vic" by those in the inner party circle, Starmer himself has said that she "has her own life and protects it vigorously".
Keir Starmer wife: Meet Victoria Starmer GB News/PA
The pair hug crowds before heading into Downing Street
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One Labour insider told The Standard: "She’s quite sassy in that she’s quite unbothered by what he’s doing" adding that, following the party's historic victory, is "going to be very much leading her own life."
She currently works in occupational health for the NHS - something her husband has frequently referred to during his time as Labour leader.
He said that Victoria would "absolutely" be staying in her role because she "wants to and she loves it", he told The Times in May.
The couple has two teenage children together but their names are not known, as the pair have tried to keep them out of the spotlight.
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Victoria Starmer attended a Taylor Swift concert last month with her husband
KEIR STARMER
Starmer and his wife Victoria stepping out in the sunshine yesterday to vote
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The pair met in the early 2000s, when both were working in law - Sir Keir as a barrister and Victoria as a solicitor.
Their 17-plus year relationship actually began with a disagreement after the new Prime Minister criticised her work on a legal case they were both assigned to, asking her to double-check that her work was "100 per cent correct".
The young barrister angered the future Mrs Starmer so much so that she professed "Who the f*** does he think he is?", after telling him to get lost and hanging up the phone.
Trying to make amends, Sir Keir invited her down to the pub to buy her a reconciliatory drink that worked its wonders.
Speaking to his biographer Tom Baldwin, Sir Keir described her as "grounded, sassy, funny, streetwise - and utterly gorgeous too".
He proposed just a few months later whilst holidaying in Greece, and the couple tied the knot in 2007.
The family of four lives in a £1.75million house in Kentish Town.
The happy pair following Sir Keir's win
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Sir Keir Starmer and his wife Victoria Starmer during the State Banquet at Buckingham Palace, London in December 2022
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Prior to her career in law, then in occupational health, Victoria attended the exclusive private Channing School in Highgate.
She secured degrees in law and sociology from Cardiff University, where she was president of the student union from 1995 to 1996.
Victoria is Jewish and Sir Keir has previously talked about keeping the tradition of family Friday night dinners, where they are often joined by her father for prayers.
"It is about just being with the family," he told the Jewish Chronicle in 2020.
"It's about being a bit more disciplined, about being home with our children and the family - they are growing up fast."
Describing their relationship, Sir Keir said that their love becomes "stronger every day" and that "Love and Vic are two sides of the same coin". He told the Mail on Sunday last month: "It sounds naff, but we’re made for each other... She makes me complete, who I really am... And we laugh a lot. Usually about all sorts of daft things the kids say."