The man who would be king: Will the real Keir Starmer step forward?

A ruthless politician who has radically remodelled Labour and stands a good chance of winning power at the first attempt, but even his own party struggles to define the man himself, writes Andrew Grice

Neither Blairite nor Corbynista, Keir Starmer is not an easy politician to label (PA Wire)

Who is the real Keir Starmer? Even Labour people who work closely with him admit privately they are not sure.

It is hard to pin a label on the Labour leader, partly because he is not a conventional politician. An MP only since 2015, the former director of public prosecutions is not steeped in party politics like many who reach the top of the political ladder.

Friends say that, unlike the former Labour prime ministers Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, Starmer would rather do something else than spend hours chewing the political fat late into the night.