What were the party leaders doing at 25?

Before the polished political personas, our leaders had messier, less ‘reptilian-feeling’ lives.

Some to the point where you wonder if their younger selves would even vote for them today.

Here’s Keir, Nigel and Kemi at 25:

Keir Starmer: 25 in 1987

By 25, Starmer had just completed his postgrad in Civil Law at Oxford and was stepping out into the world as a barrister.

Around that time, Starmer helped on the editorial team of the left-wing magazine Socialist Alternatives. 

His articles were generally about trade unions, and questioning Labour leadership for not being radical enough in their approach to helping the working class.

As a student, he was drawn to the indie music scene of the 1980s—bands like The Smiths, The Wedding Present, Orange Juice, and Aztec Camera. 

Complete with Morrissey-homage haircut in his undergrad days…

For a period after graduating he lived above a brothel in north London, complete with a circular bed and, rather alarmingly, a dead pigeon in the water tank.

In his biography, Tom Baldwin also mentions that Starmer's early favourites included Snakebite (beer + cider mix) and curry with chips. Solid picks.

Nigel Farage: 25 in 1989

Nigel Farage had already been in the professional world for seven years by 25.

He skipped university to work as a commodities trader at the London Metals Exchange.

And despite his then-membership to the Conservative Party, a 25-year-old Farage cast his vote for the Green Party—attracted by what he considered "sensible" Eurosceptic policies. 

Foreshadowing indeed.

The previous year, he had married his first wife, Irish nurse Gráinne Hayes, with whom he would have two children—and a divorce

Throughout his twenties (and beyond), Farage maintained fishing as a hobby. Which I suppose checks out with his trumpeting of British fishing rights during the Brexit kerfuffle.

Kemi Badenoch: 25 in 2005

Like Farage, Kemi was 25 when she formally joined the Conservative Party.

She spent her mid-20s working as a software engineer at Logica while studying law part-time at Birkbeck.

At this point, she already had a masters in Computer Systems Engineering from Sussex Uni—but Sussex hadn't been her first choice.

Despite being a "straight A student" in Nigeria, she received 2 B’s and a D at A-level and missed out on her preferred place at Warwick 

Apparently she was partly motivated to join the Tories at 25 by feeling let down by the British education system, where "no one at the school had pushed [her] to fulfil [her] potential".