Keir Starmer's wife Victoria's sweary rant as new PM made terrible first impression
She's the one person Keir Starmer trusts implicitly but little is known about the woman who will shortly be redecorating 10 Downing Street after the Labour leader won a landslide victory.
Victoria Starmer, nee Alexander, is known as Vic to her husband and Lady Vic to their inner circle. She is mother to their two children, a 15 year old boy and a daughter aged 13. Their names have never been publicly released because of their parents' desire to keep their lives as normal as possible, with Keir even saying that he is "desperately trying to protect them".
While NHS occupational therapist Lady Victoria, who was seen at the polling stations last night, is Keir's rock, their first encounter was hardly romantic. A decade younger than Keir at 51, she was then a solicitor who took a phone call from the senior barrister obsessively checking if documents for a court case were accurate.
"Yes, of course they are," she told him. But Keir asked again: "Are you certain?" Turning to her colleagues while putting the phone down, she exploded, "Who the f*** does he think he is?"
Happily, their first meet-up a few week later was smoother. Keir – thought to be the inspiration behind a 'hot' movie character in the Bridget Jones movies – and Victoria sat next to each other at a legal dinner and she took pity on him when the pescatarian was served meat.
Forking over some of her own vegetarian meal, they got chatting and arranged a first date at the Lord Stanley pub in Camden.
Their son has denounced his dad's choice of venue as the least romantic he can imagine but Vic laughed: "At least he walked me to the bus stop afterwards and waved at me when it left, so he got a tick for that."
Keir's mates were utterly charmed by Vic, with one declaring she completed him. He surprised her with a proposal during their idyllic trip to Santorini, and they picked out a ring the very next day.
They tied the knot on May 6, 2007, at Fennes Estate in Essex, surrounded by 200 guests and Keir's four besties just as eager to celebrate their union.
Vic touched everyone with her heartfelt wedding speech, but it was Keir who stole the show when he dedicated his entire speech to her. Later, he confided, "I wanted Vic to know how much I thought of her, what I could see in her, the love I got from her."
Post-wedding, their Italian honeymoon on the Amalfi coast became memorable for more than its romantic vistas when Keir misplaced his wedding band and had to dig through trash to retrieve it. The following year, they welcomed their son, turning their world delightfully topsy-turvy.
Holding his newborn son was like an adventure into uncharted territory for Keir. Equipped with baby gear, he admitted, "My hands shook and my back was covered in sweat. There were a lot of buttons."
Fearful of mishandling his tiny charge, he joked, "Every time I moved one of his limbs, I thought I was going to break it or social services would arrive and declare me an unfit parent."
On ITV’s This Morning, Sir Keir admitted that his children were worried about moving to the famous address and they have one request to make the transition easier – they want to get a dog.
“They are worried, if I’m honest,” he said about the potential move. “They are worried about it, because, I think any parent would understand this, if you are a teenage child you don’t want things to change.”
He continued: “As long as they are happy, as long as they are confident, then I’m smiling and that guides us in the decisions we make for them. But I wouldn’t be straight for them if I didn’t say I’m worried about the impact and, inside, I think they are.”
