Derby Book Festival – Autumn 2024

After 14 years, Labour has returned to power with Keir Starmer at the helm of the new government.  But what do we know about him?  He was a human rights barrister, rising to be the Director of Public Prosecutions and, relatively late in life, became an MP.  We know he is married with two children – and his father was a toolmaker.  But do we underestimate him and dismiss him as dull?  Is there a ruthlessness there, displayed by transforming the party led by Jeremy Corbyn and tackling far right riots?

But how did he get to the centre of power: who is he and what will he want to achieve now he is in charge?

Political journalist Tom Baldwin’s authoritative biography provides answers by drawing deeply on many hours of interviews with Keir Starmer, as well as unprecedented access to members of his family, his oldest friends and closest colleagues. Together, they tell an unexpectedly intimate story filled with feelings of grief and love that has driven him on more than any rigid ideology or loyalty to a particular faction.

Tom will be in conversation with BBC Midlands Correspondent Navtej Johal.