Keir Starmer joins household on quick vacation following dying of his brother

Keir Starmer has joined his family in Madeira on his first holiday since entering No 10.

It is understood he travelled on a commercial flight on Saturday and will spend a few days abroad. The Madeira Island News website reported that “the trip was made discreetly, and he has brought his own security with him”.

It is the PM’s first break since taking office in July. He had been set for a break over the festive period, but delayed his departure after brother Nick died on Boxing Day.

The PM had been set to go on holiday in the summer, but cancelled his plans as riots broke out across the country fuelled by far-right hate mongers. On Friday Downing Street confirmed in a statement that Nick Starmer, 60, died on December 26. The Prime Minister had been due to go on holiday with his family that day.

In a heartbreaking tribute the PM said: “My brother Nick was a wonderful man. He met all the challenges life threw at him with courage and good humour. We will miss him very much.

“I would like to thank all those who treated and took care of Nick. Their skill and compassion is very much appreciated.” A spokesman for the Prime Minister added: “It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Nick Starmer.

“Nick, 60, died peacefully on the afternoon of December 26 after battling cancer. We ask for privacy for Nick’s wider family at this time.”

Mr Starmer is protective of his family’s privacy, and has rarely spoken about his siblings Anna, Nick and Katy. But he gave an insight into his upbringing in Oxted, Surrey, to author Tom Baldwin in a biography earlier this year.

Raised by toolmaker dad Rodney and mum Jo, the PM was the second of four children, with older sister Anna and younger siblings, twins Katy and Nick. “I shared a bunk bed with my brother in a room with an airing cupboard and just enough space for a couple of small desks where we’d do our homework,” he recalled in the book.

Nick suffered complications during birth, leaving him with fairly severe difficulties with learning. He was labelled as “remedial” by school and told he would never be able to read but his mum Jo helped him to defy expectations.

Nick was put in a group who took lessons at a village hall and did not sit exams, leaving school without any formal qualifications. Mr Starmer told Baldwin: “I shared a room with him, but Nick didn’t have many friends and got called ‘thick’ or ‘stupid’ by other kids.’ Even now I try to avoid using words like that to describe anyone.”

Mr Starmer was fiercely protective of his brother, and got into fights to protect him, his sister Katy told the book. Nick went on to achieve a technical qualification through evening classes, and worked on scrap cars and doing scaffolding. But he struggled to hold down jobs, and suffered long-term health problems.

Mr Starmer was best man at his brother’s wedding, and recalled borrowing a car so that Nick wasn’t “driving his bride from the church in his beaten-up minivan, which had all his clothes in the back”. He then rushed out to buy sandwiches from a local Tesco and “put some canvas thing up” in the garden of the cottage where Nick lived, when he learned there were no plans for a reception.