One week you’re quietly getting on with life working for the NHS in occupational health, the next you’re rubbing shoulders with world leaders at a Nato summit in Washington as the UK’s (unofficial) “first lady”.
It’s been quite the transition for Lady Starmer, a woman who had mostly remained in the shadows throughout her husband’s rise from Labour leader to Prime Minister. One thing we have learnt about her in the past seven days, though? She can already call herself a fashion influencer. The red Me+Em dress she wore to enter Downing Street last Friday sold out within days and prompted a 300 per cent uplift in traffic to the dress’s page on the label’s website.
If Lady Starmer has so far eschewed interview opportunities, she has chosen instead to speak via her clothing choices. It’s a strategy which she has cemented during her first week as the wife of the Prime Minister, a period which has involved a foreign diplomatic mission as well as a visit to the races.
Just as we might have predicted from a woman who has fiercely protected her family’s privacy and her own career during her husband’s political rise, Lady Starmer hasn’t undergone a dramatic Downing Street makeover. Instead, she’s underscored her refreshing approach, opting for a mix of labels which mark her out as an aspirational everywoman whilst also subtly upholding the Government’s political aims.
That might sound like a tricky juxtaposition but Lady Starmer is no fashion amateur. As one mother who knows her from the local mums circuit in Camden told Grazia magazine: “She’s sleek and polished, the one who makes us try to up our game.”
That much was evident last Saturday when, fresh from celebrating her husband’s historic landslide, she had a day out at Sandown indulging one of her own personal passions: horse racing. She showcased another purchase from her recent Me+Em spree, a £365 drawstring-waist floral-print maxi dress which looked effortless but elegant, especially paired with Gucci sunglasses.