Sir Keir Starmer: Leeds's first Prime Minister

Leeds Voices

On 5 July 2024 Sir Keir Starmer (Law 1985, Hon LLD 2012) - one of the University's most prominent alumnus - became the Prime Minister of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

Sir Keir is the first Leeds graduate to become UK Prime Minister, and one of only a few University-educated PMs to not study his bachelors at Oxford or Cambridge.

His journey to Downing Street started in 1982, when the working class boy from Surrey “rocked up” to the Parkinson steps with a Boomtown Rats record under one arm, and a Status Quo album under the other.

There and then he fell in love with the city, and the University, that he says, changed his life. He graduated with a first class degree in law in 1985, and went on to a distinguished career before becoming an MP in 2015.

And throughout his career his relationship with Leeds has remained strong. As director of public prosecutions he opened the School of Law’s Liberty Building in 2011. He was then awarded an honorary doctorate by the University in 2012.

And last year Sir Keir returned to his old stomping ground, where he sat down with Leeds Magazine to discuss the three years that formed him, and changed his life.

Here is that full interview, recorded in October last year.

You can read the full story published in Leeds Magazine here: https://spotlight.leeds.ac.uk/leeds-magazine-2024/big-interviews/keir-starmer/index.html