The Prime Minister has thanked an NHS worker who looked after his brother in the last weeks of his life.
Sir Keir Starmer’s brother Nick died on Boxing Day in 2024 aged 60, having been ill with cancer.
In a video posted on social media to mark the 77th anniversary of the health service, the PM said that advanced nurse practitioner Ben Huntley made sure that his brother “felt cared for and respected”.
In the clip, Sir Keir is shown speaking to Mr Huntley in Downing Street, while other members of the public also meet with NHS staff who helped them.
The NHS has always been there for my family.
— Keir Starmer (@Keir_Starmer) July 5, 2025
Today, on its 77th anniversary, the entire country says thank you. pic.twitter.com/1txKPMwx1d
The Prime Minister said: “My mum worked in the NHS and then she was very, very ill, for most of her life. And the NHS became our absolute lifeline.
“My sister worked for the NHS, my wife works for the NHS, and it was the NHS that looked after my brother who we lost last Boxing Day to cancer.
“Ben, you looked after him. I think from the moment he was in all the way through, and you made sure that he felt cared for and respected.”
The PM later added: “That meant a huge amount to me and my family and, on all of our behalves, I say through you a very special thank you to the NHS.”
Earlier this week, Sir Keir told the BBC’s Political Thinking that he “made it my business to be there in the hospital” when his brother was told about his diagnosis “so that I could begin to help look after him”.
“It’s really hard to lose your brother to cancer, he was a very vulnerable man,” the Prime Minister said.
He shared details of “going up in the porter’s lift into the back of the intensive care unit” and wanting to protect his brother’s privacy.
He told the same interview that US President Donald Trump asked about his brother in a call a “few days” after he died.
