'She wants to get on with her life' Fiercely private Victoria Starmer is intent on doing things her way

Last Saturday morning, less than 24 hours after the Starmers walked along Downing Street and into their new life, Keir Starmer held a rare weekend cabinet meeting before his first press conference as prime minister.

- Esther Addley

For Victoria Starmer, however, it was a very different day. Though doubtless as sleep deprived as her husband after the drama of Thursday night's election results, she chose not to spend the day recovering - or unpacking.

Instead, she headed to Sandown Park racecourse in Surrey with friends, where she watched the Coral-Eclipse Stakes horse race.

It is hard to imagine a spin doctor choosing a day at the races as the first public appearance for a new Labour prime minister's wife. But as Britain is coming to learn, the Starmers intend to do things differently.

Victoria has been a huge flatracing fan since childhood, having been introduced to the sport by her mother, who grew up near Doncaster racecourse. Her husband may have a big job, but she has her own life and interests - and she fully plans to maintain them.

None of this should come as a surprise after Keir's four years as Labour leader, and the intense sixweek general election campaign.

Victoria - Vic to her husband and friends - has never given a newspaper interview, never invited TV cameras into the family kitchen or taken a journalist on the school run, and never introduced her husband at party conference.

Instead, while she willingly appears by his side at political events, and this week flew with the prime minister to Washington where he attended the Nato summit, there is a hard limit to her public role, "and we'll keep it that way because we want that boundary", Keir said last month.