Cover star Lady Starmer (Image: Tatler)
Like most of the country it seems Sir Keir Starmer’s wife Victoria is keen to avoid spending too much time in her husband’s company.
While previous PM spouses have adhered to the mantra set down by the late Sir Denis Thatcher of being “always present, never there”, it seems Lady Starmer is taking an alternative approach.
That’s according to society magazine Tatler, who have chosen the new ‘First Person’ as the cover star for their February edition under the title All hail Queen Vic.
And whilst the full regal title may appear to her aspirational husband, the first few tumultuous months in office for the Starmer regime have proved a closer match to the endless drama and upset found in the fictional pub.
Lady Starmer greets children in Downing Street at Christmas (Image: Getty)
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Labour insiders are now urging Lady Starmer to appear more in public to help boost her husband’s flagging fortunes amid rows over the axing of winter fuel allowances, cutting farmer’s inheritance tax benefits and hammering business with national insurance rises.
The magazine, which hits the shelves next week, confirms that the family have finally finished their move to Westminster, with the Starmer’s two teenage children settled into their rooms in the Downing Street flat.
But one senior MP with close links to the PM confides: “You can spend a lot of time around the Labour Party at high levels and never meet Victoria. It’s her choice, of course. But there’s a great appetite to see more of her.”
However, another NO10 insider tells the magazine that the Starmer’s hardline approach to family privacy means acquaintances are terrified of saying much about 50-year-old Lady Starmer – even when it is complimentary.
All loved up – The Starmer’s have been wed 15 years (Image: Getty)
Always oresent never there – Denis Thatcher (Image: Getty)
They said: “She doesn’t seek a public role at all. There aren’t any plans to change that. She is busy with her job as an occupational therapist in the NHS, and with a family in their teenage years.”
Their children – a boy, 16, and a girl, 14 – are kept out of all photos, with references to family life limited to their son ribbing Keir about football.
However if Sir Keir’s popularity continues to dwindle it is thought inevitable that his wife of 15 years will be forced to increase her public persona with insiders telling Tatler that there is “the option of reviewing her role when Keir has been in power for a year to see how it’s going”.
But the source adds tellingly: “If it changes, it will be on her terms.’
Tatler’s February edition is on sale Thursday, January 2.