Meet Victoria Starmer, the new prime minister’s wife
Lady Victoria Starmer has never done an interview – and according to the prime minister, that’s not about to change.
As her husband prepares to lead the country after winning a historic landslide, not a huge amount is known about his wife, who likes to keep a low profile.
Despite not hearing from her, she has been visible; quietly by her husband’s side when he held his Holborn and St Pancras seat in the historic vote, when he gave his victory speech, and when he took his first steps in Downing Street as prime minister.
In contrast to Rishi Sunak’s wife, Akshata Murty, who introduced him with a speech at the Tory conference and gave a sit-down on-camera interview to Grazia where she talked about chores and her favourite family activities, we don’t often see or hear from Lady Victoria.
Here we take a closer look at what we know about the UK’s new “First Lady”.
From a career in law to the NHS
Like her husband, Lady Victoria 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.”
She will “absolutely” carry on working for the NHS if Sir Keir becomes prime minister, he told The Times: “She wants to and she loves it.”
A brief appearance during campaigning
Amid a flurry of press about why Lady Victoria had not been seen on the campaign trail, Sir Keir shared a photo of them at Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour in London.
Sky News’ political editor Beth Rigby said on the Electoral Dysfunction podcast there seemed to be an element of the photo being “choreographed”.
“I think maybe there was something about just reminding everyone that he is happily married to Vic… just kind of inserting her in a way that was really low-key, but very, clear,” she said.
Former Labour adviser Ayesha Hazarika told the podcast the way the couple had approached this campaign showed a move away the “1980s” stance of “I am the man and here is my political trophy wife”.
It reflects her being “a modern, professional established woman in her own right”, she said.
A fiercely private family life
Sir Keir and Lady Victoria have two children together and live in Camden, in his Holborn and St Pancras constituency.
They do not mention their children’s names in public.
Lady Victoria has largely kept herself out of the spotlight – she has never done an interview and “we’ll keep it that way”, Sir Keir told The Times.
“I’m not going to pretend that it’s easy for her, because it isn’t. She wants to get on with her life,” he said.
“It is a massive intrusion when you have media outside the house. It is inhibiting on the whole family.
“That does impact on her and will do even more if we’re privileged enough to get it over the line.”
The prime minister’s wife 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.”
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.