Keir Starmer set to be new UK PM: All you need to know about the lawyer-turned-politician

Keir Starmer has been the opposition leader for four years.

Keir Starmer's Labour Party is on course to sweep the UK general election and oust incumbent Rishi Sunak from power, marking the end of nearly 14 years of Conservative rule.

Starmer, 61, in his victory speech after winning from Holborn and St Pancras, said whether people voted for him or not, "I'll serve every person in this constituency."

According to the exit poll, which is often quite close to the final tally, Labour could win as many as 410 seats, comfortably crossing the half way 326 mark and notching up a 170-seat majority with the incumbent Tories led by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak down to just 131 seats.

As an opposition leader for the last 4 years, Starmer has tried hard to drag his left-leaning social democratic party towards the political centre. His message to voters is that a Labour government will bring reassuring change to the country without pushing it towards instability.

Stamer's supporters argue that he is capable of leading Britain out of its economic mess with his practical approach and reliable credentials. However, his critics accuse him of lacking charisma as well as conviction. They also say that he has not been able to give a clear vision for the country, which is grappling with crises.

Here's all you need to know about Keir Starmer:

• Keir Starmer is the leader of the Labour Party and has been the opposition leader for four years.
• He was born to a toolmaker and a nurse in 1969 and was named after Labour’s first leader, Keir Hardie. One of four children, he was raised in a cash-strapped household in a small town outside London.
• His mother suffered from a chronic illness, Still's disease, that left her in pain. Starmer has said that visiting her in the hospital and helping to care for her helped form his strong support for the state-funded National Health Service.
• Starmer was the first in his family to attend college, studying law at Leeds University and Oxford.
• Before politics, he served as chief prosecutor for England and Wales.
• He entered politics in his 50s and was elected to Parliament in 2015.
• He has moved the Labour Party from the left towards the political middle ground.
• He also imposed discipline in the party which has a well-earned reputation for internal division, ditched some of Jeremy Corbyn's more overtly socialist policies and apologized for antisemitism that an internal investigation concluded had been allowed to spread under Corbyn.
• The Labour Party has consistently led by double digits in the polls under his leadership.
• He enjoys soccer, supports Arsenal, and keeps his family out of the public eye.
• Critics call him a “lefty London lawyer,” while supporters see him as pragmatic and focused on winning. Some liken his potential victory to Tony Blair’s 1997 win, though Starmer is seen as less charismatic.

The House of Commons, the only elected chamber of the UK Parliament, has 650 seats — 543 in England, 57 in Scotland, 32 in Wales and 18 in Northern Ireland.

A party needs to win 326 seats to get a majority of two, 327 for a majority of four, and so on.

England and Wales have primarily seen battles between Labour (red) and the Conservatives (blue).