Description
Book SynopsisWho is Keir Starmer? When Keir Starmer won the Labour Party Leadership election in April 2020, the expectation was that he would quickly become a fierce Leader of the Opposition as a former director of public prosecutions, human-rights barrister and genuinely keen football supporter. Instead, his performance was not as surefooted as his supporters had hoped for, or his opponents feared. The 2021 local elections and Hartlepool by-election did not resurrect the Red Wall and only in the Tory-blue South did his party make cosmetic gains. Both in Parliament and in media interviews Starmer struggled to connect with the floating or even the traditional Labour voter. His approach seemed to raise as many questions as Jeremy Corbyn's leftwing leadership. Nigel Cawthorne attended Starmer's grammar school a few years before him (and David Walliams). Sharing the same formative experience, he goes in search of the man behind the lawyer who was covered for almost three decades by a gown and horsehair wig in one of Britain's most cloistered professions.
Trade ReviewPrevious praise for Nigel Cawthorne; GUARDIAN; 'Galloping.'; SUNDAY TIMES; 'Excruciating.'; THE TIMES; 'A breath of fresh air.'; INDEPENDENT; 'Goes behind the headlines.'; A FINANCIAL TIMES BEST BOOK OF THE WEEK; 'Raises deep questions.'; DAILY MAIL; '[A] psychological portrait.'; THE JEWISH CHRONICLE; 'A must-read.'; METRO; 'Shocking.'
Table of ContentsVanity Projects 1 The Starmers 2 Collapse 3 The Right School for Keir 4 Tanhouse Road 5 Scraping Through 6 Keir's History Boys 7 Reigate's Ballance 8 Rescued by Margaret Thatcher 9 Reigate College 10 Oxbridge and Modest Backgrounds 11 Technicolor Dreamcoat 12 East Surrey Socialism 13 'You want to do law' 14 Oxford Self-Management 15 Pugilism 16 Archway and the Israelites 17 A Band of Revolutionaries 18 Strive Mightily 19 Judge Whisperer 20 Hippies in Hedgerows 21 Acid House and Druids in White Cotton 22 'Rightness' 23 The Road to Northern Ireland 24 'Who the f*** does he think he is?' 25 McFilm Star 26 Starmer QC, Rushing 27 Director of Public Prosecutions 28 Guiding the Rule of Law 29 MP 30 Leader of the Opposition Prime Minister Material? Index
