Leading by compassion Human rights lawyer is surprise attorney general

When asked a few years ago to name the three qualities a lawyer should have, one of the attributes the new attorney general for England and Wales, Richard Hermer KC, chose was "compassion".

- Haroon Siddique

It is difficult to imagine Suella Braverman, who held the role between 2020 and 2022, championing the same trait, her reign having driven many lawyers to despair, given her previous attacks on judges, and her advice that the UK could pass a Brexit bill that breached international law.

As a result, the surprise appointment of Hermer, a distinguished human rights lawyer from outside the world of politics, to the role within a government of all the talents has been widely welcomed as a breath of fresh air.

Geoffrey Robertson KC, a founder of Doughty Street chambers, said: "It is an advantage to have a fully-fledged lawyer in the attorney general's position, who's had a career that has never been distracted by politics - that has been a problem with former attorney generals." Hermer, 55, joined Doughty Street in 1993, three years after it was set up, having completed his pupillage in Wales, where he grew up. He attended Cardiff High School before studying politics and modern history at University of Manchester and was called to the bar in 1993.

At Doughty Street he got to know another of its founder members, Keir Starmer, and when Hermer was made a QC in 2009, it was the future prime minister who gave the toast at his silk ceremony.

They have a close relationship and when Starmer ran for the Labour leadership, Hermer donated £5,000 to his campaign.