8 QUESTIONS: Keir Starmer

The U.K. opposition leader on placing nation over party, embracing business, and Labour's plans to end 13 years of Tory rule

- YASMEEN SERHAN

You've spoken about how you never saw yourself becoming a Member of Parliament. What made you feel like you couldn't get into politics?

My working-class background. My dad worked in a factory, my mum was a nurse. Nobody in my extended family had gone to university. I was the first, and therefore there was something in the back of my mind that simply said, "People like you aren't MPs, Keir."

How do you describe Starmerism?

Recognizing that our economy needs to be fixed. Recognizing that [solving] climate change isn't just an obligation; it's the single biggest opportunity that we've got for our country going forward. Recognizing that public services need to be reformed, that every child and every place should have the best opportunities, and that we need a safe environment, safe streets. You get a sense of what matters most to me.

You lamented U.K. leaders' absence at the World Economic Forum in Davos this year. Are Britain's best days behind it?