Sir Keir Starmer has opened up about the strained relationship he had with his late father in an emotional new biography.
The leader of the opposition said his father, Rod, never revealed how proud he was of him. Starmer only found out about how he really felt after he passed away in 2018.
When he was clearing out his family home, the 61-year-old found a scrapbook hidden in the back of a cupboard that was full of newspaper cuttings.
These were all different points of Starmer’s career, from his time as Director of Public Prosecutions to when he became an MP. Rod had written dates underneath each article.
‘I didn’t really know what to think about it, why he had taken all that trouble, then hidden it,’ he said.
‘Dad was proud of me and loved me, even if he couldn’t tell me to my face.
‘And it’s now too late for me to tell him to his face that I was proud of him, that I loved him too.’
The Labour leader said his father was heartbroken by the death of his mother, Jo, in 2015, three years before he passed away.
Jo had Still’s disease, a type of arthritis that can cause the immune system to attack the body.
The new biography, written by journalist Tom Baldwin, also recalled the moment that Starmer regretted not hugging Rod when he was on his deathbed.
‘We hadn’t hugged each other for years. Not since I was a kid,’ he said, choosing to walk away instead.
‘I knew he was dying and I didn’t turn around to go back and tell him what I thought. And I should have done.’
It comes after Labour seized the previously safe seats of Wellingborough and Kingswood in the by-elections on Thursday.
In an interview with Sky News, Starmer said: ‘I am very pleased with the by-election results from last night.
‘I think it’s very clear that people are crying out for change across the country. They think the Tories have failed, they can see most things are broken.’
Reform UK also managed to achieve their best ever by-election results. It secured 13 per cent of the vote in Wellingborough, Northamptonshire, and 10 per cent in Kingswood, South Gloucestershire.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak bemoaned low turnout and warned that voting Reform would only ‘put Keir Starmer in power’.
Sunak himself admitted that there was ‘work to do’ to convince the public that progress was being made in a TV interview after the by-election results.
‘The circumstances of these by-elections were particularly challenging. I think if you look at the results, very low turnout,’ he said.
‘It shows that we’ve got work to do to show people that we are delivering on their priorities and that’s what I’m absolutely determined to do.
‘But it also shows that there isn’t a huge amount of enthusiasm for the alternative in Keir Starmer and the Labour Party.
‘And that’s because they don’t have a plan. And if you don’t have a plan, you can’t deliver real change.’
William Turner is a seasoned U.K. correspondent with a deep understanding of domestic affairs. With a passion for British politics and culture, he provides insightful analysis and comprehensive coverage of events within the United Kingdom.
