The Labor leader said he was “not tribal” when it came to personal relationships and politics because he entered politics relatively late in life. Speaking to Times Radio, he suggested that only people in the political bubble were focused on maintaining division. Asked about other Labor figures wearing ‘never kissed the Tories’ badges, Starmer said: ‘I’m afraid I’ve broken that rule. I’m not tribal. I am on very good terms with many Tory MPs. I’m not ashamed of it and I’ve got very good friends who are Tories and they’ve been very, very good friends of mine for a long, long time, and that can go on for a long time.’ Over the summer, Starmer’s shadow cabinet member Lucy Powell faced criticism after she was photographed wearing a ‘never kissed a Tory’ T-shirt at Manchester pride. Tory MP Sarah Britcliffe complained that the phrase created an “us versus them” feeling, while James Cleverley, then education secretary, joked that if Powell had asked nicely then “a [Tory] will say yes after all.” Starmer described his efforts to keep life “as normal as possible” for his family and said he did what he could to spend time with his children. Archie Bland and Nimo Omer take you to the top stories and what they mean, free every weekday morning Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain information about charities, online advertising and content sponsored by external parties. For more information, see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and Google’s Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. He said: “I don’t want to be the man in 10 years saying, ‘I wish I had spent more time with my kids.’ I have a rule of one hard stop on Friday at 6pm. I won’t do any work. I will be home.”
