LONDON (Reuters) – British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s younger brother Nick has died after struggling with cancer, a Downing Street spokesman said on Friday.
“Nick, 60, died peacefully on the afternoon of December 26th after battling cancer,” the spokesman said.
Starmer, 62, paid tribute to his brother, describing him as a “wonderful man”.
“He met all the challenges life threw at him with courage and good humour. We will miss him very much,” Starmer said.
The prime minister, who has faced a series of political setbacks in his first six months in the post, had been due to go on holiday with his wife and children on Friday, but will now stay behind following his brother’s passing.
Nick Starmer grew up with learning disabilities and Keir, who was the second of four siblings, would get into fights as a child with anyone who bullied his brother, according to a biography of the prime minister published this year.
“Nick was dealt a different set of cards to me — problems I’ve never had to face,” Starmer said in the book, the Times newspaper reported.
(Reporting by Sachin Ravikumar; Editing by Gareth Jones)
