“If you vote for him, he will be a part-time prime minister”. On the eve of the vote that should open the door to Downing Street for him (here are the data on the elections in Great Britain, ed.), the leader of the Labour Party Sir Keir Starmer He came under attack from conservatives not for his program but for his leadership style: he is someone who intends to “punch the clock”» leaving at 6pmobsessed as he is with family. “The country deserves better,” they thundered from the Tory benches. “I’ve never finished at six,” attacked outgoing Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.
In fact Starmer in an intimate interview given to former football teammate Chris Evans on Virgin Radio announced that will try to save Friday evenings to spend time with his children. «We have a strategy in place and we will try to stick to it, that is setting aside some truly protected time for children, so on Fridays (I’ve been doing this for years) I won’t do anything work-related after six, no matter what.”
Whatever happens? echoes the interviewer. And he: «Well, there are some exceptions, but that’s what we try to do. I often take my son to kickboxing and my daughter to swimming and cheerleading. I’m a dad, I love them, they’re my pride and joy and I don’t want to waste that time,” he explained.
The Labour leader goes on to talk about his “good intentions” after describing how “distant” the relationship he had with his father and confided his regret for not having been able to share emotions with him even when he was dying.
But Starmer did not limit himself to defending this time as a private space, he also also praised the positive repercussions on the public sphere: «I don’t believe in the theory that you’re a better politician if you don’t give yourself space to be a dad and have fun with your kids. Actually, this helps me. It relaxes me. And so I am able to make better decisions.».
There is a high risk that “exceptions” could become the norm in the crowded agenda of the prime minister of a major G7 country and member of NATO. The challenge is to succeed in not “freezing” the most important relationships while playing a leading public role. A challenge lost by Jacinda Ardern: in his surprise announcement of his resignation as Prime Minister of New Zealand, in early 2013, he had admitted that he “no longer had the strength” to carry out the task. But at one point, in his address to the nation, he seemed to beaddressed directly to her daughter Neve: “Mom can’t wait to be there when you start school this year,” she had said. And then addressing his partner Clarke Gayford live on TV: “Let’s finally get married!” A very private concentration of emotions that took its revenge.
