Jul 12, 2024 - 18:25
By huffpost.com

5 Things To Know About Britain's New Prime Minister

Labour leader Keir Starmer will soon move into 10 Downing St. as Britain’s new prime minister after his party won Thursday’s U.K. general election in a landslide.

While his party has been dominating the polls for the past two years, Starmer, the man set to become the country’s first center-left leader since 2010, remains a lesser-known figure to many outside of the U.K.

Starmer entered the British political scene in 2015 after he was elected as the member of parliament for Holborn and St Pancras with the Labour Party. He then served in the shadow cabinet of former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, first as shadow immigration minister before becoming shadow Brexit secretary in 2016.

Following Corbyn’s resignation over the party’s worst defeat since 1935 in the 2019 general election, Starmer became leader after winning the internal leadership contest in April 2020 resoundingly by earning 56% of the vote.

“I will lead this great party into a new era, with confidence and hope, so that when the time comes, we can serve our country again — in government,” he said at the time.

Here are four more things you need to know — plus a bonus fun fact — about the incoming British prime minister.

He Has Been Knighted

Prior to entering the world of politics as a member of parliament for Labour, Starmer, 61, was a human rights lawyer and prosecutor.

He received a knighthood in 2014 as part of the New Year’s Honours “for services to law and criminal justice.” At the time, he was director of public prosecutions and head of the Crown Prosecution Service.

His opponents have used his knighthood against him to brand him as an elite.