Keir Starmer: The Labour leader hoping to become PM

The Labour leader frequently describes himself as being from a “working class background” and often references the “pebble-dash semi” in Oxted, Surrey, where he grew up.

His dad was a toolmaker and his mum worked as a nurse. His mother suffered from Still’s disease, a rare autoimmune condition which eventually left her unable to speak or walk.

He went to Reigate Grammar School, which became a private school two years after he joined. His fees were paid by the local council until he was 16.

After school, he became the first in his family to go to university, studying law at Leeds and later Oxford.

In 1987, he became a barrister and developed a specialism in human rights law. His work took him to the Caribbean and Africa, where he defended prisoners facing the death penalty.

In the late 90s, he offered his services for free to the so-called McLibel activists who were pursued by McDonald’s for distributing leaflets questioning the fast food giant’s environmental claims.

In 2008, he was named the Director of Public Prosecutions, the most senior criminal prosecutor in England and Wales.