How does Kier Starmer do it?!

I agree, and it isn't a party political point either. It is a tough job for whoever is in it.

But all of those things are piss easy in comparison to the challenges that he is dealing with instead, so what's your point exactly?

I mean, finding a parking space vs testing your kids on their times tables vs trying to avert WW3...I wonder which is more stressful?!

I imagine the same posters will be Starmer bashing whatever he does or doesn't do!

I used to work for a woman minister back in the days of all night sittings. She used to insist on most of us going home-only to find herself up shit creek because she didn't have the staff around to cope if something came up in the House....

Yes, he doesn't have to do that. But still....

This is not a dig, but even if all that mental load shit was taken off you, would you be able to go at Kier Starmer's pace? I would not! Let's give the man some credit, his achievements are not 'just' because he doesn't have to do homework with the kids. He's good at what he does and has energy and capabilities that I don't. It's okay to recognize that

Exactly

With the travel, he's not parking in a long-stay car park, catching a bus to the terminal, queuing to check in, queuing to ger through security, hanging about in the departure lounge until boarding. He's driven straight onto the tarmac and immediately onto the aircraft.

And as others have said - everything else is taken care of for him, he's not mentally making a Tesco's shopping list or trying to help his DC remember their times tables.

he did used to have a "my wife works for the NHS line" during and just after Covid but he gave it up seemingly.

Exactly!

Just a massive lol to all the posters suggesting it's because he doesn't have to do his own ironing or plan the children's tea 😁

Let's be serious - making sure everyone in the house has clean socks for tomorrow is a chore and it's tedious and takes a bit of thought, but it's not on par with leading your country through tense diplomatic relations.

I don't iron, and my cleaning standards are pretty low - but somehow that hasn't freed up my own mental energies to match Kier Starmer's output!

I’m just impressed he manages to stay calm, he sticks to whatever has been decided he’ll say beforehand, he doesn’t care if that makes him look dull, he’s genuinely there to try and do a good job rather than people like Boris or Trump who just want power and money.

To be fair this is the standard MN response to everyone who finds their job , or work-life balance stressful ....

Agree @MrsBennetsPoorNerves - I can't stand her politics either but she deserved a decent meal after getting to her flat at gone 10pm. Especially as up thread, someone said she had diabetes

Boris got criticised for having food delivered by a donor but of all the things that BJ should be rightly criticised for, I thought that was low done the list

Poor Theresa May... for all that I dislike the woman's politics, imagine having to go back and cook after all that!

We really ought to give them more support with the domestic stuff. It shouldn't have to fall to the spouse.

I think this is sort of true but physically it is still demanding.

I think you're right that they're often the type to thrive on being "in the thick of it". However, I very much doubt that anyone would thrive under the level of pressure that European leaders are currently facing. These are exceptional times.

Appreciate this post is against the grain of the thread.

But this idea of "he must be exhausted" is not quite right IME.
Senior politicians/business leaders etc like KS - of whatever political party - "live to work".

PMs LOVE jetting around the world etc. They will tell you privately that "this is very tiring, I don't want to see another hotel room again for a long time". But this is a bit disingenuous - because actually it's them having a feeling of being "in the thick of it" which keeps them getting up in the morning. They like being the one taking the big decisions, believe me, and find it very stimulating, even if it gives them grey hair.
Not having to do any housework is also helpful but this factor above is also an important one.

I don’t think our PMs get as much domestic help as people are assuming here. Didn’t Liz Truss write in her book about the stress of trying to explain to Ocado where they needed to deliver in Downing Street?!

Historically it’s been a wife picking up the domestic duties, or (as in Winston Churchill) a private income covering the costs of outsourcing everything. Objectively the PM’s salary would not cover the costs of outsourcing all that needs to be outsourced not to ever have to focus on anything else.

BTW for those that didn’t get it the “Javelin” reference Trump used wasn’t a euphemism, it was a specific nod to an anti-tank weapons system that that the US provided prior to and after the Russian Invasion.

www.rferl.org/a/ukraine-30-anti-tank-javelin-systems/31604802.html

I am not a fan of Therese May's politics, but I thought the same about her. She managed type 1 diabetes whilst having this immense, stressful job.

I read an interview with Nancy Pelosi (former speaker of the US House of Representatives) and in it she said that the only way she could do her job, which was so incredibly demanding, was to outsource every other part of her life. So she never did the washing up, never took her own clothes to dry cleaner, never paid a bill or worried about what was for dinner. She was therefore able to focus 100% on her job.

No idea what Air Force One has tucked away but FWIW a lot of heads of States don’t really have full sized beds on their aircraft, though depending on the aircraft fit they might have access to a bunk of some sort..

I work with politicians a lot - and it's an absolutely brutal life.

Yes they have tea and coffee and Keir won't have to worry about his travel etc but we don't actually provide a cook and housekeeping like many other PMs / Presidents around the world.
I remember May saying that after a Brexit vote she went back to the flat at Downing Street and had beans on toast as she couldn't be bothered to cook.

In normal times it will be at absolutely minimum of a 16 hour day if you include the boxes they get at night, every night for any Minister. It's clearly probably way more than that at moment and I think the PM is probably getting about 4-5 hrs sleep if that.
Keir's wife will be picking up the slack at home, unpaid. It's hard to have a go at your other half for not doing the dishwasher if they are trying to stop the next World war. Can you imagine the AIBU thread ?

He probably does see his kids quite a lot. Downing Street is v small. They probably pop down to say hi even if he's working on something like the current absolute crisis. They probably also meet world leaders occasionally too - just out of the media glare.

I think Keir really does love his kids very much & tries to be a good dad. His face just lights up when he talks about them. In fairness, I also thought that about sunuk, Cameron and both Brown and Blair

100%

And meanwhile Trump is in Florida and Vance has gone skiing.