My mother was an ‘incredible example’ for me, says Sir Keir Starmer

The Prime Minister’s mother, Josephine Starmer, worked as a nurse for the NHS and suffered from the rare autoimmune condition Still’s disease.

Mrs Starmer died in 2015, weeks before Sir Keir was elected MP for Holborn and St Pancras.

In a biography of Sir Keir on Labour’s website, it states that he was “hugely influenced by his mother’s courage and determination to live her life despite her illness”.

It added: “Keir spent lots of his childhood seeing his mum go into hospital, where his father would always be at her side.”

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Writing on X, Sir Keir said on Sunday: “My mum was an incredible example for me. Even through long years of illness, she always put others first.

“Thinking of you today, mum. Happy Mother’s Day.”

Discussing his mother’s illness in 2024, Sir Keir said: “My mum was very, very ill for all of her life.

“I know what acute care looks like because I’ve been there with my mum in high dependency units”.

Sir Keir bought a field for his parents behind their home in 1996 when he was a lawyer, “because they loved donkeys” and could use it as a sanctuary to care for the animals.

Last year, he said: “My mum was very ill and she couldn’t move around anymore.

“She, by the end of her life, had her leg amputated and she could barely communicate. She was very, very ill.

“She loved her donkeys and I wanted her to be able to see her donkeys.”

Still’s disease is a rare, systemic inflammatory disorder characterised by daily high fevers and arthritis that causes chronic joint pain.