Sir Keir Starmer was joined by his wife Lady Victoria Starmer at the Labour Party conference in Liverpool.

In contrast to Rishi Sunak’s wife, Akshata Murty, who introduced him with a speech at the Tory conference, Lady Starmer has kept a relatively low profile.

Here we take a closer look at the woman who could be one of the next occupants of Downing Street.

From a career in law to the NHS

Like her husband, Lady Starmer trained as a solicitor and the couple met through work.

She now works in occupational health for the NHS – a role she loves, Sir Keir said in an interview with the Sunday Mirror.

Her job gives an insight into the coal face of the health service, he said.

“I get a direct line of sight on a daily basis into the challenges of the NHS and the morale of the staff.”

How the couple met

Sir Keir described their first meeting while on Piers Morgan’s Life Stories in 2020.

“I was doing a case in court and it all depended on whether the documents were accurate.

“I [asked my colleagues] who actually drew up these documents, they said a woman called Victoria, so I said let’s get her on the line.”

He said he heard her mutter “Who the f*** does he think he is?” before hanging up.

Undeterred, he asked her on a date to a pub in Camden. That was in the early 2000s and the couple married in 2007.

A fiercely private family life

Sir Keir and Lady Starmer have two children together and live in Camden, in his Holborn and St Pancras constituency.

Lady Starmer has largely kept herself out of the spotlight – as Sir Keir told the Sunday Mirror, “she has her own life and protects it vigorously”.

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Asked how his wife copes with being married to a prominent politician, he said: “I think the biggest concern I have is about the impact it has on my family.”

Lady Starmer is Jewish and Sir Keir has talked about keeping the tradition of family Friday night dinners, where they are often joined by her father for prayers.

“It is about just being with the family,” he told the Jewish Chronicle in 2020.

“It’s about being a bit more disciplined, about being home with our children and the family – they are growing up fast.”

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