Starmer says his mum was an ‘incredible example to me’ in Mother’s Day message | EUROtoday

UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer paid tribute to his mom, Josephine Starmer, on Mother’s Day, describing her as “an incredible example for me”.

Mrs Starmer, an NHS nurse who suffered from the uncommon auto-immune situation Still’s illness, handed away in 2015, simply weeks earlier than her son was elected as MP for Holborn and St Pancras.

According to a biography on the Labour Party’s web site, Sir Keir was “hugely influenced by his mother’s courage and determination to live her life despite her illness”.

The web site additionally notes that “Keir spent lots of his childhood seeing his mum go into hospital, where his father would always be at her side.”

Writing on X on Sunday, Sir Keir reiterated his admiration: “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.”

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Reflecting on his mom’s lifelong battle in 2024, Sir Keir acknowledged: “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.”

In a poignant gesture of affection, Sir Keir, then a lawyer, purchased a area for his mother and father in 1996 behind their residence.

This was “because they loved donkeys” and he needed to create a sanctuary for the animals.

He advised the BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg programme final yr: “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 illness is a uncommon, systemic inflammatory dysfunction characterised by each day excessive fevers and arthritis, inflicting persistent joint ache.