Who is Victoria Starmer, the new PM's wife?
After 14 years of a Conservative government, today Britain has woken up to find Labour are now at the helm of the nation – and being led by Sir Keir Starmer. But who is the new Prime Minister's wife, Victoria Alexander?
So far, she has kept a low profile as her husband campaigned to become one of the most recognised names in Britain. Victoria has made minimal public appearances – bar a visit to Wimbledon (and being seated one row behind Kate Middleton), at the occasional Labour-related event or to accompany Keir to Buckingham Palace for a State Banquet – but that is now set to change.
But what do we know about Victoria and what does the former solicitor, who was pictured heading to the polling stations with her husband yesterday, now do for work?
Here's everything you need to know about Lady Victoria Starmer...
Who is Keir Starmer's wife, Victoria Alexander?
Given she's the wife of a knight (the new PM was knighted as a 'Sir' following his work as a human rights lawyer and prosecutor), Victoria really is the 'First Lady' of 10 Downing Street in some ways – and she can officially style herself as Lady Starmer, if she likes.
Victoria (or 'Vic' as the PM tends to refer to her) married Keir in 2007, after the pair met while both working on the same case in the early 2000s. Keir wanted to know who was responsible for a certain set of documents and wanted to question their accuracy, and when he heard Victoria was the woman he needed to speak with, got her on the phone to discuss.
At the end of the call, after receiving a grilling, Victoria then – not realising the call hadn't disconnected – turned to a colleague and said, "Who the f*ck does he think he is?" Apparently though, this only made Keir all the more intrigued. The rest, as they say, is history.
As for Victoria's own history, she was raised by Polish-Jewish immigrants (her mother, a doctor, converted to the Jewish faith after meeting her father, an economics lecturer) along with her sister in Gospel Oak, London. Keir once said to Jewish Chronicle that the family "observe some of the practices such as Friday night prayers".
One writer, who penned a piece for The Independent and who says she is a neighbour of the Starmers, described Victoria as being popular with the "Kentish Town mum mafia (who say she is 'cool', 'a laugh' and 'down to earth')".
According to one recent interview Keir gave, Victoria would have preferred him to stay working in the legal sphere rather than moving into the political one, detailing, "No she wasn't at all [keen], she thought it'd be far better to continue being a lawyer on a reasonable salary and not have all of the challenges you get as a politician."
Does Victoria Starmer work for the NHS?
Victoria works as an occupational health therapist for the NHS – a fact that the PM referenced ample times during his election campaign. Given Victoria's low profile so far and seeming desire just to let her husband carry on with the political side of things, it's expected that she'll continue on with her work as usual.
During the pandemic, Keir and Victoria were both spotted standing outside their front door clapping for the NHS and in support of key workers, too.
Do Keir and Victoria Starmer have children?
The couple share a 16-year-old boy and a 13-year-old girl, neither of whom have ever been named or pictured publicly before. Keir has spoken on multiple occasions about the importance of keeping their lives as normal as possible.
He's also revealed some fun anecdotes about his children in the past and how they help him to keep his feet on the ground, too.
"They're a really good mixture of being protected and bringing me back down to earth the whole time," the PM explained during an appearance on the Table Manners podcast. "Last year I won The Spectator Politician of the Year Award and they gave me a framed certificate which I then took home about 10 o'clock at night, and our boy was sitting on the settee with his feet up watching telly. I came in, gave it to him and said 'What do you think of this?' and he looked at it, without really taking his eyes off the telly, he passed it back to me and said 'How did you blag that then?'. It was just fantastic!"
He later added, "The moment I walk through the door, I've got to be dad and I love that."
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