Sir Keir Starmer's Knighthood: A 'Posh' Predicament in the North

By Brendan Carlin

He's banking on reclaiming the Red Wall, but there's a snag for Sir Keir Starmer in the eyes of Northern Labour voters – his knighthood is making him appear as 'posh' as Boris Johnson.

Deborah Mattinson, the Labour leader's strategy chief, laid down the harsh truth after engaging with working-class voters in the North, where seats were lost to the Tories back in 2019.

Polling guru Ms. Mattinson unveiled the disconcerting sentiment among these folks – the 'Sir' title carries an implication of him hailing from another universe, similar to the 'off-the-charts posh' aura of Eton-schooled Mr. Johnson.

Recent discourse even revealed that Sir Keir might be 'unusually reserved' when addressed as a knight of the realm, perhaps due to this very predicament. A Yorkshire Labour MP noted that the knighthood is a bit of an issue up North, compounded by his profession as a London lawyer.

The knighthood dilemma dates back to 2014 when the then Prince Charles knighted Sir Keir for his role as Director of Public Prosecutions. But after assuming the role of MP for Holborn and St Pancras in London in 2015, Sir Keir seemed to prefer to sidestep the honor.

Curiously, Sir Keir's official parliamentary web page plainly states that he should be addressed as 'Keir Starmer', bypassing the title altogether. Notably, during the grand Coronation event at Westminster Abbey, Sir Keir appeared without the customary knight's regalia, leaving observers puzzled.

During a conversation six months before she became his strategy director in July 2021, Ms. Mattinson appeared to offer Sir Keir grounds to downplay his knighthood. The pollster, renowned for her book chronicling Labour's downfall in the North in 2019, underlined that among the 'Red Wall' constituents, the 'Sir' was a bone of contention for the Labour leader.

Speaking at an 'Cambridge for Europe' online gathering, she pointed out the nuanced gap that these voters discerned between ex-PM Mr. Johnson, former Labour chief Jeremy Corbyn, and Keir Starmer, especially when he's addressed as 'Sir'. According to her, all three men exude an otherworldly poshness, a contrast to the people living in those areas.

Ms. Mattinson elaborated, "Keir Starmer's dad was a manual worker, but he's 'Sir' Keir Starmer; he's a lawyer – you know, he comes from a different world." The people she engaged with were mostly male manual workers or women in the care sector. She noted their astonishment at how Mr. Johnson had managed to 'de-snobbify the Tory Party'.

Despite Sir Keir's upbringing in Oxted, Surrey, where his father was a toolmaker and his mother a nurse, he has not shied away from reminding everyone of his modest origins. A spokesperson for him emphasized that he takes pride in his honor, both personally and on behalf of his Crown Prosecution Service colleagues. Whether people use the title or not, Sir Keir remains unperturbed.

The spokesperson added, "As for Boris Johnson, voters can distinguish between the former disgraced Prime Minister and a Labour leader who has revitalized his party's commitment to the working class."

Share or Comment on This Article:

Article Updated: 18:42 EDT, 26 August 2023