Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has shared a deeply personal account of his brother's death from cancer during an emotional podcast appearance recorded at 10 Downing Street.
A Brother's Final Moments
The Labour leader became visibly emotional as he recalled the moment his younger brother Nick Starmer received his terminal cancer diagnosis. The 60-year-old passed away on Boxing Day last year, just 18 months after being diagnosed with lung cancer.
Sir Keir described how he insisted on being present when medical staff broke the devastating news to his brother, who had learning difficulties resulting from complications at birth. "Because my brother was very vulnerable, I didn't want him to learn about the diagnosis on his own," the Prime Minister told podcast host Pete Wicks.
He continued: "I didn't know that he would properly understand and I didn't know how he would react, so I insisted on going to the hospital with him and basically watched his face as he was told he had terminal cancer."
The Private Grief of a Public Figure
The Prime Minister revealed that he visited his brother in intensive care "unbeknown" to the public, with hospital staff helping him enter and exit undetected. He described fiercely protecting his family's privacy during this difficult time.
"I was shutting the world out to this," Sir Keir explained. "I fiercely wouldn't let anybody know that this was happening. I knew he was going to die, and I probably in my heart of hearts knew when I saw him just before Christmas that that might be the last time I saw him."
Despite anticipating the loss for 18 months, the Prime Minister said the actual moment of his brother's passing came as a shocking blow. "Then when he did die on Boxing Day, even though for 18 months I'd known that this was coming, it hit me like a bus. Just knocked me out. Really hard to take because he's my little brother."
Men's Mental Health and Modern Challenges
The interview, recorded for Pete Wicks' Man Made podcast, was timed to coincide with Men's Mental Health Month. Sir Keir spoke candidly about the particular challenges facing young men today and the dangers of them turning to negative influences.
"People like Andrew Tate and that sort of person become quite attractive to young men, because they search for a role and on one level that gives them a sense of being successful, rich and famous," the Prime Minister observed.
He warned: "On the other hand, it comes with a whole baggage of misogyny and toxic division that goes with it. Steering young men away from that path on to a different path is quite tricky."
Fatherhood and Redefining Masculinity
Sir Keir also reflected on how becoming a father to a son and daughter with his wife Lady Victoria changed his perspective on masculinity. He said he consciously chose to parent differently from his own "distant" father.
"Fatherhood created space for me to be something different," he shared. "They changed my life profoundly, they changed me as a person, me as a man, my sense of what it is to be a man."
When asked what he hoped his children would say about him, the Prime Minister gave a simple, heartfelt response: "What I'd like them to say is that I was a loving dad. That is all."
The podcast episode, released on Friday, follows the publication of the Government's new strategy for men's health, which aims to tackle critical issues including suicide prevention, alcohol abuse and problem gambling.
