Some see him as a pragmatist and a centrist, others criticize him for behaving like a weather vane - he changes his mind too often and does not fulfill the promises made. Who is Keir Starmer, the likely new British Prime Minister?
Journalists consider him too boring to be prime minister. He is said to come across as a “political robot" in televised debates and described as a “doe in the spotlight" in newspapers, the ARD lists the definitions already given to Labor leader Keir Starmer.
He is not particularly dynamic, he does not have the ability to captivate others. But anyone who wants political theater should look at the energetic Nigel Farage of the right-wing populist UK Reform Bloc party. So will Starmer become a circus director and not prime minister?
His way up
The campaign motto of his party suits him: “Change" at first glance, it is a fair motto - considering that every opposition party promises this, ARD points out.
But this is what most Britons long for after 14 years of Tory rule, austerity and the Brexit debacle: another leadership. According to some newspapers, the anti-populist Starmer is even exactly what the country needs.
His history should respect. His father was a toolmaker, his mother a nurse. The money was often not enough, reports the German public-law media. Starmer points this out in his interviews - presumably to draw attention to his background. Most MPs in London are middle class or from wealthy families, whereas he has had to work his way up.
His mother was seriously ill, which suppressed his emotionality and affects him to this day, Starmer also points out.
Sir Keir
As a human rights lawyer, Starmer has defended environmentalists against McDonald's, won compensation for miners and represented defendants in Commonwealth countries who were sentenced to death.
Starmer later held a key position in the prosecution service, an office which earned him a knighthood and the title of "sir". However, some members of the Conservative Party still criticize him to this day for not tackling controversial cases, nor for showing enough firmness.
The Merciless
Starmer entered politics late - with the idea of making the world a better place, he says. At the age of 52, he won a parliamentary seat, after which Jeremy Corbyn became party leader and invited him to his government team, ARD recalls.
Socialist Corbyn enjoys support among the electorate, but not in his own party - as his course is too left-wing, and it is alleged that he allowed anti-Semitic tendencies in his own ranks. In 2019, Corbyn's party fared extremely poorly in the election, winning only 202 seats in the 650-seat parliament.
If his biographer Tom Baldwin is to be believed, by that time Starmer had long been planning to take over the party leadership - and successfully, ARD points out. In 2020, he became the head of the party - with the idea of reuniting it and increasing trust in it.
And he changed it radically: he expelled some members for alleged anti-Semitic tendencies, took a hard line against the left wing and declared himself against a Corbyn re-candidacy. Critics described this as a purge, and since then Starmer has also been described as “ruthless", the German public-law media emphasized.
He is actually a centrist
Starmer has brought the party back to the political center in Britain: there is more talk of law and order than nationalization or raising taxes. In his election campaign, he concentrated on voters who traditionally voted for Labor, who subsequently became disillusioned and turned to the Conservatives.
Starmer's supporters call him a pragmatist, a man of the centre. His critics reproach him for behaving like a weather vane - he changes his mind too often, does not fulfill his promises.
His biographer Baldwin says he behaves differently from other politicians, his tactics more like a lawyer: instead of starting with grand visions and compromising when obstacles arise, Starmer starts with small, practical maneuvers and is gradually making its way.
Left turn is not excluded
The question of whether he is really a “man of the center" or strategist, remains open, notes ARD. Political scientist Tim Bale does not rule out the possibility that under his leadership the Labor Party will turn to the left again.
Keir Starmer is not an orator like former prime minister Tony Blair, Labour's great hope when he won a landslide victory in 1997 and personified the new beginning. Nor is Starmer a radical socialist like Corbyn - as already mentioned, for some he is a “political robot".
However, one thing is clear, emphasizes the German public-law media: Starmer succeeded in a short time to attract voters to the Labor Party again. If the polls are to be believed, she could double the number of MPs in the Lower House compared to 2019.