The Starmer Project is a forensic and revealing account of Keir Starmer’s rise to the top of British politics. Oliver Eagleton paints a fascinating picture of a human-rights barrister turned chief prosecutor and his handling of a number of cases involving the police and security services. He traces Starmer’s political alliances and his leading role in Labour’s Brexit agony. When Starmer stood for party leader, he pledged to revitalise Corbynism with a dose of lawyerly competence. The Starmer Project details how he instead purged Jeremy Corbyn and pulled Labour to the right.

Helped into power by the Conservatives’ collapse in 2024, Starmer was soon as unpopular as his Tory predecessors. Embroiled in austerity and allegations of sleaze, he has further alienated the public and disappointed business interests as well. He stands accused by critics on the left and right alike of lacking principles. But although devoid of charisma, Starmer is anything but an empty political vessel. Indeed, the implications of his authoritarian politics for a country in need of renewal, not retrenchment, appear dire.

This is the definitive, updated and revealing biography of the Labour Prime Minister.