Is Keir Starmer a lawyer or a leader?

Keir Starmer surprised his colleagues during his first week in power when he appointed his old friend Richard Hermer KC as Attorney General. Emily Thornberry, the holder of the role in opposition, was banished to the backbenches. Senior Labour figures had sensed something was afoot. ‘Sue [Gray] was keeping those transition talks under lock and key,’ recalls one Labour bigwig.

The idea was that Starmer would have a trusted, authoritative voice to turn to on legal matters. The pair are old pals; Starmer even gave a toast when Hermer took silk in 2009. His appointment, however, has come with baggage. Hermer’s former clients include Sri Lankan refugees to the Chagos Islands and ex-Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams. He acted, too, for the human-rights group Liberty in the case of British-Bangladeshi Isis bride Shamima Begum.

Hermer is seen as playing a key role in the government’s more controversial choices. There was the decision to withdraw the UK’s objections to the International Criminal Court for the arrest warrant of Benjamin Netanyahu. He also played a role in the beleaguered Chagos Islands deal, having taken the view that Britain had an ‘obligation’ to hand them to Mauritius, even though the International Court of Justice’s opinion on the matter was not legally binding.

Rarely a day goes by without a story or question regarding a potential conflict of interest for Hermer. After it was revealed that Adams could be awarded compensation for his ‘unlawful’ detention because the UK government was repealing parts of some existing legislation, Hermer wouldn’t say whether he gave advice approving the change. There was yet more astonishment in parliament when he refused to tell a select committee whether he stood to gain financially in the event that the government pays up.