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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Politics
Tom Baldwin

Reassuring, serious, a sense of duty: who is Keir Starmer really?

Keir Starmer launches Labour's election pledges at on 16 May, 2024.
Keir Starmer launches Labour's election pledges at on 16 May, 2024. Photograph: Leon Neal/Getty Images

Over a cup of tea around his kitchen table a few weeks ago, Keir Starmer compared ­waiting for the general ­election to being in jail. “It feels like I’m chalking off the days on my cell wall before I can be released,” he told me.

Like many real prison inmates across the country recently, he’s been allowed out a bit earlier than expected by the government. Rishi Sunak’s surprise decision to call a 4 July election means the gates have swung open and the Labour leader is emerging into the white light of a campaign.

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