Victoria Starmer, Britain’s new ‘first lady,’ is a former lawyer turned public health worker

London
CNN
 — 

The British public has elected a new government, and with that a new family will be moving into 10 Downing Street.

Unlike some other countries, such as the United States, when a new British prime minister comes to power, the transition into both the new role and home happens almost immediately.

That means, not only will Keir Starmer, leader of the Labour Party, be settling into his home down the road from the Houses of Parliament, but so will his wife, Victoria, and their two teenage children.

So, who is Victoria Starmer, and what do we know about the new occupants of 10 Downing Street?

Starmer’s wife, whom he usually refers to as Vic, kept a relatively low profile during the election campaign.

Both lawyers by training, they married in 2007 – the year before Starmer became Director of Public Prosecutions.

Their relationship grew out of an unlikely first meeting at work, as the Labour leader told Piers Morgan in 2021.

Then a barrister, he was preparing for a court case and demanded to speak to the lawyer who had drawn up documents relating to the case. That was Victoria.

He asked if they were accurate, and once the conversation was over, he heard her say, “Who the bleep does he think he is?” before hanging up on him. He told Morgan he pursued her for months after that, and they have been together ever since.

“Vic is beautiful, she is grounded, we share values and we laugh together,” Starmer said.

Victoria, whose parents are Jewish, now works in occupational health in the NHS.

“Half of the family are Jewish, they’re either here or in Israel,” he told The Guardian last month, adding that he and his wife are “very keen” for their children to understand their heritage.

Meanwhile, the prime minister has spoken about his children’s concerns about the house move.

“Deep down they’re worried that this (their lives) could change, which is why we will fiercely protect their privacy.”

So determined is Starmer, that he refers to them in interviews as “my boy” and “my girl.”

“From the very start we took the decision that we would keep them as protected as we possibly can, so we won’t have any photo shoots with the children and we don’t name them in public,” he told British broadcaster ITV’s “This Morning” show.

Starmer told The Guardian he is “acutely aware” how his job impacts his family, saying of his children, “these are formative years. We keep life as ordinary and unchanged as possible.”

Earlier this year, pro-Palestinian protesters demonstrated outside the family’s home in Kentish Town, north London, where they unfurled a banner saying “Starmer stop the killing” and left rows of children’s shoes.

The Starmers’ main hopes, he told “This Morning,” were for their children to be “happy and confident.”

That might be helped by a new addition, he admitted, as a move to Downing Street is likely to see his children “ramp up… their campaign for a dog.”