Keir Starmer has opened up about a special behind-the-scenes moment with his daughter at Taylor Swift’s Wembley concert.
The Labour leader gave rare insight into his family life during a sit-down chat on the ITV This Morning sofa, as he told presenters Cat Deeley and Ben Shephard all about the big night with his wife and two children – one of them being a major Swiftie.
The PM hopeful posted a candid snap of him and his wife Victoria at the Swift gig following Friday night’s Wembley show – and has since praised for sharing a joyful, natural moment with voters. In the selfie, the couple can be seen grinning in front of a huge crowd.
Looking relaxed on the This Morning couch, Mr Starmer explained that he got to spend “fantastic quality time” with his family at the concert, which he said was “brilliant”. The politician also revealed that his favourite Swift song is Change – Labour’s campaign motto. He said: “I was there with Vic, my wife and our two children. It was phenomenal. It was incredible. She’s so good.”
Mr Starmer also revealed he learnt something special about his teenage daughter, as he shared: “[The concert] was three hours. It was 45 or 46 songs and I learnt that our 13-year-and-a-half girl knew every word of every song of every album.”
The politician also shared that he wore some friendship bracelets at the gig and even learnt how to trade them – the first lesson in Swiftie Fandom 101.
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ITV)
He said, beaming: “I did wear some bracelets and bracelet trading, I learnt how to do that. She [Keir’s daughter] was really good at it. It was really good for making friends with people who were nearby her. It was brilliant.”
Mr Starmer is fiercely protective of his children’s privacy and told Cat and Ben just how important it is to him and Victoria to maintain as much normality as possible for them – especially if he becomes prime minister.
“For the kids, from the very start, we took a decision that we would keep them as protected as we possibly can. We don’t have any photoshoots with the children and we don’t name them in public. I want them to be able to walk to school as their own people, doing as normal as things as they can,” he said.
“If they were under five, I think it would be a slightly different situation, or if they were 20 years plus. But 13 and a half for our girl, 15 nearly 16 for our boy, these are quite impactful times. And so for as far we can, we’re trying to make sure that they can have the lives of an ordinary teenage boy and girl.”
But the Labour frontman did reveal just how much his kids want a dog, as he told the presenters: “We’ve got a cat, a cat called Jojo but my kids are on a campaign to get a dog. They’ll take any dog but a German Shepherd is what our daughter wants.”
Mr Starmer will face sinking Tory PM Rishi Sunak in a head-to-head debate tomorrow night. The BBC special will air live from studios in Nottingham, and marks the final debate between the two leaders before polling day.