Proof Starmer really IS a mug! Could Keir’s revealing tableware finally confirm incredible rumour that he is the man behind literature’s most dashing hero…_Nhy
He’s the heartthrob lawyer who folds his underpants, but is ‘the real Mark Darcy’ actually the Prime Minister?
That’s what a mug found in Sir Keir Starmer‘s former parliamentary office suggests – reigniting the rumour that Helen Fielding based her Bridget Jones character on him.
The mug was unearthed by Tory staffers as they were clearing out the Leader of the Opposition’s office for the new Conservative leader, Politico reported.
One Tory aide quipped to the Mail: ‘The last time they vacated office they left us a note saying there was no money left – so I guess this was an improvement of sorts.’
Starmer, 62, was a human rights lawyer, working on a series of high profile cases in the 90s at the time of Helen Fielding’s columns in The Independent, which spawned the Bridget Jones’s Diary series.
Rumours Colin Firth‘s brooding character was based on the Labour leader have refused to go away since emerging in 2014, with the new PM himself saying he doesn’t know if they are true or not.
Sir Keir Starmer , 62, was a human rights lawyer, working on a series of high profile cases in the 90s at the time of Helen Fielding’s columns in The Independent, which spawned the Bridget Jones’s Diary series
Claims: Bridget Jones’s love interest Mr Darcy is rumoured to have been based on new Labour Party leader Sir Keir Starmer
The writer may have met the politician when she lived in Leeds, while Keir read law at the city’s university, or as his career blossomed while she was a journalist.
While Sir Keir- previously suggested he was flattered by the claims, he insisted no one will ever know the truth – except for the writer herself.
Speaking to ITV News, he said: ‘Everybody asks me this question when they should be asking her the question because she knows the answer and I don’t.
‘It’s a rumour that’s been doing the rounds for some years but I honestly don’t know the answer to it.’
When quizzed whether he’d be flattered if it was true, Sir Keir replied: ‘Of course I would, but I honestly don’t know the answer.’
It has also been rumoured that Colin Firth styled his performance on the father of two, with neither the actor, Fielding or Sir Keir publicly denying the claim.
The pairs’ career paths even show similarities, as they both rose to prominence taking on pro-bono cases and as defence lawyers.
The pair also both went to Oxford University, even though they were in different years.
When quizzed whether he’d be flattered if it was true, Sir Keir (left) replied: ‘Of course I would, but I honestly don’t know the answer
The pairs’ career paths even show similarities, as they both rose to prominence taking on pro-bono cases and as defence lawyers. They also both went to Oxford University, even though they were in different years.
Renée Zellweger and Colin Firth pictured in the thrilling climax of the first Bridget Jones film
Despite years of the talking around the rumour – Helen Fielding may have hinted it’s not true in a 2020 interview.
‘They are very similar, though,’ she told the Radio Times Christmas issue. ‘He’s so good and decent and intelligent, but so buttoned up.
‘I always want to say, ‘Come on, Keir, loosen your tie, ruffle up your hair. He doesn’t think of himself as sexy, but he’s really sexy.’
The writer also likened Sir Keir’s exchanges Boris Johnson in the Commons with the rows between Mark Darcy and Daniel Cleaver.
She added: ‘And when he and Boris spar, it does remind me of Mark and Daniel.’
Labour did not respond to a request for comment last night.
