Victoria Starmer

Starmer was born Victoria Alexander in either 1973 or 1974 in London. Along with an elder sister, she was raised in Gospel Oak, London.^[1] Her father, Bernard, an economics lecturer and chartered accountant, was born in 1929 to a Polish-Jewish family that emigrated to the United Kingdom prior to the Second World War while her mother, Barbara (died 2020), was a community doctor in the National Health Service who converted to Judaism upon marriage.^[2][3]

Alexander was educated at Channing School in Highgate, London,^[4] and later studied law and sociology from Cardiff University, where she served as president of the student union.^[2] After graduating from university, Alexander qualified as a solicitor and worked for the law firm Hodge Jones & Allen, specialising in street crime.^[2] At some point after her marriage, she stopped practising law and began working as an occupational health worker for the NHS.^[5][6]

Alexander met Keir Starmer, then a senior barrister with Doughty Street Chambers, while working on the same case.^[7] The pair became engaged in 2004 and married on 6 May 2007 on the Fennes Estate, just north of Bocking, Essex.^[2][8]

The couple have two children: a son (born 2008) and a daughter (born 2010); both are being brought up in their mother's Jewish heritage and culture.^[9][10] The family observe Shabbat and are members of the Liberal Jewish Synagogue in north London.^[11][12][13]

Starmer is a vegetarian. Until moving to 10 Downing Street, the family resided in Kentish Town, north London.^[14][15]

Starmer has supported the Labour Party since at least her student days, notably protesting Conservative education reforms as Cardiff University's education and welfare officer in 1993.^[2] Despite this, she kept a relatively low profile during the 2024 general election, choosing not to appear on the campaign trail. She did, however, make appearances at Labour events and state banquets which were held during the campaign.^[16]