UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer paid tribute to his mother, Josephine Starmer, on Mother’s Day, describing her as "an incredible example for me".
Mrs Starmer, an NHS nurse who suffered from the rare auto-immune condition Still’s disease, passed away in 2015, just weeks before her son was elected as MP for Holborn and St Pancras.
According to a biography on the Labour Party’s website, Sir Keir was "hugely influenced by his mother’s courage and determination to live her life despite her illness".
The site also notes that "Keir spent lots of his childhood seeing his mum go into hospital, where his father would always be at her side."
Writing on X on Sunday, Sir Keir reiterated his admiration: "My mum was an incredible example for me. Even through long years of illness, she always put others first. Thinking of you today, mum. Happy Mother’s Day."
Reflecting on his mother’s lifelong struggle in 2024, Sir Keir stated: "My mum was very, very ill for all of her life. I know what acute care looks like because I’ve been there with my mum in high dependency units."
In a poignant gesture of love, Sir Keir, then a lawyer, bought a field for his parents in 1996 behind their home.
This was "because they loved donkeys" and he wanted to create a sanctuary for the animals.
He told the BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg programme last year: "My mum was very ill and she couldn’t move around anymore. She, by the end of her life, had her leg amputated and she could barely communicate. She was very, very ill. She loved her donkeys and I wanted her to be able to see her donkeys."
Still’s disease is a rare, systemic inflammatory disorder characterised by daily high fevers and arthritis, causing chronic joint pain.
