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Keir Starmer’s seriousness has led some to question if he has the passion to lead the Labour party.

He in intensely private and does not talk much about why he first got involved with politics.

But in his first interview since declaring his bid for the leadership, he reveals a “burning desire” to tackle inequalities and protect public services.

There is a very personal reason behind his commitment to defending the NHS – and one he doesn’t find easy to share.

“Let me tell you this in the best way I can,” he says. “My mum contracted Stills disease when she was 11. It’s when your immune system turns on itself.

“She was told she wouldn’t be able to walk when she was in her 20s.

“She was the longest patient on steroids in the history of Britain.

“It allowed her to walk in her 20s and 30s. It took a terrible toll on her.

“I spent a lot of my time in high-dependency units with my mum watch­­ing nurses saving her life.

“I saw that as a child, I saw it as a teenager. It is very, very personal.”

(Image: Philip Coburn)

His eyes well up as he tells how his mother, who died five years ago, had her leg amputated and ended up unable to walk, sleep, eat or talk. She was never able to speak to his two children.

He says: “I don’t need much persuading in terms of the importance of the NHS.”

But he worries about the impact of Tory efforts to get a post-Brexit trade deal with the US, saying: “Every deal America does involves public services being on the table.”

Mr Starmer is aware of how big the task ahead will be but is determined to turn around his party’s fortunes.

On the eve of his formal campaign launch in Manchester he says: “I’ve been involved all my life in fighting injustice and in particular fighting the powerful on behalf of the powerless.”

(Image: BBC)

Before entering Parliament in 2015 he was a successful human rights lawyer who tried to secure justice for Stephen Lawrence and worked for no fee defending activists against McDonald’s.

As Director of Public Prosecutions he earned a reputation for being tough on corporations and criminals.

But his rise to the top of the justice service was all the more remarkable because – despite his image as a wealthy lawyer – his origins were fairly ordinary.

His parents named him after the first Labour leader, Keir Hardie.

He got into the local grammar school and signed up for the Labour Party at 16.

He claims he is not that comfortable talking about his early years.

“I came from a working-class background. My parents didn’t go round telling people how working-class they were, they just were,” he says.

(Image: Philip Coburn/Daily Mirror)

“Now, because of perceptions people have, it’s necessary for me to say that.

"Dad was a tool manufacturer and mum was a nurse until she was too ill to work. I hadn’t been in a work environment other than a factory until I left home.”

But he adds: “They didn’t feel hard done by. For many years my parents, like many people, lived with the security of knowing the next generation would have better opportunities.

"One of the tragedies of the last 10 years is that that’s been reversed.”

Mr Starmer knows if he wins the top job it will change the lives of his lawyer wife Victoria and their children aged nine and 11.

He says: “I do have concerns about privacy and already we get doorstepped. I understand why journalists do their job and I try to be courteous.

“But we have young children and they really hate it, it scares them.”

(Image: Philip Coburn/Daily Mirror)

He bats away suggestions he is “too London”, citing his experience visiting Leave areas as Shadow Brexit Secretary.

But he will find it harder to shrug off suggestions Labour should be electing its first woman leader from his three female rivals for the top job, Rebecca Long Bailey, Jess Phillips and Lisa Nandy.

Currently the favourite after winning the support of the country’s biggest union, Unison, and pushing ahead among MPs, he knows his immediate task has to be to unite the party.

He says: “There’s far too much factionalism and division to be an ef­­­fective opposition.”

(Image: Evening Standard / eyevine)

He has admitted Jeremy Corbyn ’s leadership, Labour’s Brexit position, the “overloaded” manifesto and its failure to tackle anti-Semitism were key factors in the party’s election defeat.

He has also warned against Labour lurching to the right and dropping radical policies.

He says: “Those things are really, really important and I don’t want to go back on them.”

Mr Starmer already has his strategy for dealing with Boris Johnson , aware that there is no great affection for the Tory leader among those who “lent” him their votes.

“Boris Johnson does not like direct confrontation, he doesn’t like people who take him on,” he says.

“You saw this during the election, he hid from scrutiny, so we need a leader who is prepared to take him on person-to-person.”

(Image: Philip Coburn/Daily Mirror)

(Image: PA)

But he acknowledges that for Labour to win back their heartlands it needs to “talk to them much more”.

“We need a plan for every town in every area that is radical and relevant to them. Decisions should be made as close to people as they can be.”

Mr Starmer will spend the next 12 weeks travelling the country meeting Labour members.

He says: “My open invitation to Mirror readers is that if you want me to come to where you are, let me know and I’ll come and we’ll have a conversation.”

(Image: Philip Coburn/Daily Mirror) (Image: REUTERS)

Where Keir Starmer stands on the big issues facing Britain

BREXIT

We need to accept that we're leaving the EU in a few weeks time and that the Leave/Remain argument is over. We need to let that go.

We need to also accept that the case for a second referendum was blown away by the election we've just had.

I've always been sceptical that we can have an all-singing, all-dancing treaty with the EU that can deal with trade, security and all the rest of it within the next 12 months.

We have to challenge the government on that. We still face the danger of no deal and we can't just abandon the argument that it would be very bad for our country.

CRIME

I was DPP for five years working with the police and security services on some of the most serious offences known, ranging from sex offending to terrorist plots.

How do you reduce crime? My answer would not be by building a bigger prison but by putting your money in a primary school.

The more we drill into this it is obvious that deprivation of every sort lies behind some of the very serious crime on our streets.

I'm not against dealing with it in a tough way but you do have to go to the root causes.

DEFENCE

I support our armed services and our armed forces. I have never said they shouldn't be deployed, but I have three important tests for action.

Is it lawful? It was the fact I thought the 2003 Iraq war was unlawful that I didn't support it.

Is it viable? Save in emergency situations it ought to be with the consent of Parliament.

There are conditions but it's obvious from my conditions that there would be circumstances in which I would support action.

NORTHERN RAIL INFRASTRUCTURE

HS3, what was the trans-Pennine route, has been neglected for years and years and everybody who lives in Leeds, in Hull, in Manchester, in Sheffield will tell you the agony of getting across that route.

Therefore investment in rail infrastructure should start in the North and work its way South.

SCOTLAND

We've got to win in Scotland. No Labour government has ever been formed without having significant numbers of seats there.

I'm not going to sit there and pretend I've got all the answers to that. I believe in the Union and think we should make a much more powerful Labour case for it.

It doesn't mean you don't devolve more powers to Scotland.

But you do it in a way that strengthens the Union, not weakens it.

Obviously if in future there is a mandate for a second referendum any government is going to have to look at that.

WORLD CUP FINAL

I would 100% support having the World Cup Final in the North.

Obviously I'd have to brace myself to go into whichever stadium it is to watch the final as an Arsenal fan but having football back in the UK and in the North of England would be brilliant.

It brings investment not just in the stadium but everything that goes with it.

It would fast-track the need for cheaper transport in and to and from the North.

If we were able to replicate the goodwill the Olympics brought with a World Cup in the North of England that would be fantastic for the whole UK.