Keir Starmer’s quiet upbringing in Surrey town named best place to live where homes cost £800k

Leader of the Labour Party Sir Keir Starmer has described the coming General Election as a “moment the country needs and has been waiting for”. With voters set to hit the polls in just a matter of weeks, current forecasts have indicated that Starmer could very well be the nation’s next Prime Minister, and will be hoping to turn the 'Tory blue wall' in Surrey, to red.

Starmer took over the Labour Party in 2020, taking the reins from Jeremy Corbyn after its worst General Election defeat since 1935. He recently told the public that over the last four years “we have changed the Labour Party” and have “returned it once more to the service of the working people”.

The 61 year-old, who now lives in Kentish Town in London with his wife and two children was actually raised right here in Surrey. Born on September 2, 1962 in Southwark, it would be the bustling commuter town of Oxted where the politician spent much of his youth.

Read more: Godalming locals give their brutal opinions on Nigel Farage, Rishi Sunak and Sir Keir Starmer

Keir was the second child of four to his parents Josephine, a nurse, and Rodney Starmer, a toolmaker. Both were Labour supporters and reportedly named the future party leader after the Labour's first parliamentary leader, Keir Hardie.

However, Starmer said in 2015 that he was not sure if this was actually true. After passing his 11-plus exam, Keir went on to study at Reigate Grammar School, which at the time was a voluntary aided selective grammar school.

It went on to become an independent fee paying school in 1976 while he was a student. Existing pupils, like Starmer, had their fees paid by the local council until they were 16.

He was not the only notable pupil at the school during this time, as Keir studied alongside Norman Cook, better known as Fatboy Slim, as well as fellow future politician Andrew Cooper, who would later become a Conservative peer.

A young Keir joined the East Surrey Young Socialists, the youth section of the local Labour Party at the time, at 16. Sir Keir previously spoke to BBC's Lauren Laverne about his Oxted upbringing and his first steps into the world of politics.

He remembered: "We marched around east Surrey up long drives telling people we thought nationalisation was the answer and after we'd explained our views and asked 'how will you be voting?' there weren't so many that were persuaded.”

He went on: "I started off as the radical who knew everything and I am now much more open to ideas, much more questioning of ideas." Sir Keir spoke of his "incredibly hardworking" father who worked as a toolmaker on a factory floor his whole working life. He would work all day, return for tea, then go back to work in the evening.

His mother suffered from the autoimmune disease called Still's which eventually left her unable to move or speak. "He had this utter devotion and commitment to my mum,” said Sir Keir of his father.

"He stopped drinking completely, just in case he ever needed to get to the hospital with her. And then on the many occasions she was in hospital, he would stay with her the whole time."

Starmer’s childhood home has also recently been named among the best places to live in Surrey. Oxted cracked Muddy Stilettos’ top 10 ranking of the greatest destinations to plant your roots throughout the county, describing the town as “catnip to city commuters.”

The publication added: “Oxted is arguably the town with it all – great schools, excellent leisure facilities and a burgeoning music festival scene. Oh, and it’s at the foot of the stunning North Downs – so gorgeous to boot!”

With its optimal transport connections and abundance of brilliant features, it may not come as a surprise that homes in the Labour Leader’s old stomping grounds carry a hefty price tag. According to Rightmove, properties in Oxted sold for an average of £803,870 over the last year.

To put that into perspective, Rightmove puts the average price of a property sold in Surrey as a whole over the same period at £629,222, nearly £200k less than what is expected in Oxted. The majority of these sales in the town were for detached properties, fetching an average £1,290,989 - double the Surrey average.

Semi-detached properties meanwhile sold for an average of £652,290, with terraced properties fetching £454,787. Oxted also so recognition for its easy access to Gatwick, just a 20 minute drive away, the popular Beer Festival, eclectic dining and drinking scene, plus its array of boutique and independent shops.

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