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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Politics
Tom Baldwin

Keir Starmer’s football obsession isn’t just good politics … it’s at the heart of who he is

Keir Starmer with England’s Under-17s. Football grounds him, and informs his political vision.
Keir Starmer with England’s Under-17s. Football grounds him, and informs his political vision. Photograph: Leon Neal/Getty Images

When England kick off their Euro 2024 campaign against Serbia on Sunday night and most of this nation’s attention is fixed far from politics, Keir Starmer will be watching the football and drinking beer in a London pub.

Although not an official media event, it’s a fair bet that someone will post a photograph of him doing so. And jaundiced observers might reasonably conclude this is merely part of the Labour leader’s own quest for victory in a campaign where he’s trying to say, according to the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg, “Look at me, ‘I’m a man of the people.’”

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