One of Sir Keir Starmer’s best performances was the speech he gave to signal the premature end of his premiership. So often caricatured as an unemotional technocrat, the moment of his resignation revealed a more emotionally charged individual, a proud man who served his party, his country and his family with formidable dedication, but has been brutally treated. It was telling that he finally welled up when he talked about his “rock” – his wife Victoria – and his children. He deserves thanks for his service and what he has, in all fairness, achieved in domestic and, more emphatically, foreign affairs.
Sir Keir is a human being, a fact which feels like it is sometimes missing from the grotesque misrepresentation of him on social media, and even sections of the so-called mainstream media. As such, he must be hurt by his treatment in recent weeks, culminating in Donald Trump pre-announcing his resignation. It must be painful, and Sir Keir did well to get through the ordeal without quite shedding a tear.
