Starstruck

Even as I enter my dotage, I still find myself starstruck when I meet someone famous. I am not one to brag BUT…I’ve met a few famous people over the years, some albeit very briefly. Brian Wilson, Al Jardine, tennis legend Rod Laver, Steely Dan, the Doobie Brothers, Sammy Hagar, Graham Nash, Stephen Stills, Viv Richards, Tony Benn and Tony Blair to brag about just a few. Tony Blair was the first prime minister I ever met although he wasn’t actually prime minister at the time. He and I were at Cheltenham, at the march and rally to protest at Margaret Thatcher’s banning of trade unions at GCHQ. Suddenly, just before the speeches were about to begin, Blair, or Tony as I call him, was standing right in front of me. A rabbit in the headlights, the best I could come up with was “Keep kicking the Trots, Tony!” to which he replied he replied, “Oh, we will!” Starstruck, I was. He was much taller than I expected and even in that micro-moment his charisma washed all over me. A year or two later in 1997 – naturally I can’t remember the year I met my new friend Tony – he entered Downing Street as Labour won a landslide election victory. That was my mate, I pretended to myself. Yesterday, I met my new best mate: Keir Starmer.

At a crowded BAWA club on Southmead Road, Labour’s leader arrived with no fanfare or hype. It was a closed shop meeting for local Labour Party members – even the venue was kept from us until the day before for ‘security reasons’. Starmer arrived and after a brief introduction by Labour’s excellent candidate for Filton and Bradley Stoke constituency Claire Hazelgrove, he went on the small stage with nothing other than a microphone, no notes at all.

I was immediately struck by how warm he was. I’ve read the media criticism, that he is a bit boring and cold, but the Starmer I saw was anything but. It was a perfectly judged ‘stump’ speech, the main aspect of it was the local elections in May but he also more than touched on a few national issues. Once it was over, he didn’t dash off to a waiting 4×4, he mingled with the crowd. The starstruck groupie sidled up to him, eventually persuading one of his aides to take a photo of Keir and me, with added Claire Hazelgrove. The first thing the next PM (hopefully) noticed was the Liverpool FC jacket I was wearing. I replied that I hoped he wouldn’t mention 1989 (when Michael Thomas scored a late winner for Starmer’s beloved Arsenal AT ANFIELD to lift the League title). Of course he did, which is why the photo taken shows me in a state of near hysteria. I cannot compare the occasion with meeting the sainted Tony (he still is in my eyes: sorry haters) and in any event comparisons are irrelevant but in our short time together I found him to be warm, engaging and far more charismatic than I had been led to expect.

We left the hall with Starmer surrounded by Labour supporters, still posing for photos and listening to what people had to say. We retreated to my local, the Beaufort Arms, not before I suggested to Ms Hazelgrove that Keir might enjoy a swift pint before bedtime. Sadly, I have reveal he did no such thing and given some of the ‘characters’ in attendance at the pub last night it was probably a good thing.

I’m not on Keir’s Christmas card list just yet, but it’s surely only a matter of time. I am hoping that meeting me will help propel him into Number 10, as did my encounter with Tony Blair. And today I remain starstruck.