Lady Vic's £948 three-day wardrobe: Sir Keir's wife heads to the races in £227 flower-print maxi dress (after two days in on-message Labour red)

Her sporting passion is horse-racing, so Victoria Starmer – dressed stylishly in a turf-matching floral green number rather than her trademark red – chose a day at the races yesterday to escape the political drama in Downing Street.

The mother of two was spotted checking the runners and riders at Sandown Park in Surrey before the Coral-Eclipse, one of British horseracing’s most prestigious flat races. It was won by Derby winner City of Troy.

The Prime Minister’s wife inherited her love of the sport from her mother Barbara, who was born and raised in Doncaster. Her grandmother lived on the edge of the town’s famous racecourse.

On the kitchen wall of the Starmer family home in Kentish Town, north London, there is even a photo of the finishing post at Doncaster racecourse, reflecting Victoria’s fondness for horses and her mother’s roots.

The Prime Minister said recently: ‘Vic’s mum had horseracing in her blood and Vic loves it, too. She loves flat racing.’

Wearing sunglasses and chatting cheerfully to other racegoers, Victoria cut a relaxed figure at the Esher course in an Me+Em Lantana flower-print, drawstring maxi-dress, retailing at £227.50. 

It was a notable contrast to the shades of red that she has sported since Sir Keir took over as Labour leader.

Most notably, the lawyer-turned-NHS occupational therapist made a bold statement after Labour’s resounding General Election victory on Friday morning in a poppy red, contrast-stitch, short-sleeved £275 gown – also by Me+Em – to make her first photocall alongside her husband in Downing Street.

Just 24 hours earlier, ‘Lady Vic’ had cut a more casual figure, arriving at a polling station in North London wearing a crimson red shirt-dress from US designer Simkhai (£445) paired with classic white trainers. 

At a campaign event in London a week before the election, she wore a softly-pleated red/pink floral dress (currently £255) with a V-neck and cinched waist by The Kooples alongside Sir Keir as he made a last-minute appeal to voters.

She attended the Labour Party conference last year in a £1,200 red belted dress with fluted sleeves by designer label Edeline Lee.

And in 2022, she stuck to a similar, if less bright, theme: wearing a pleated burgundy shirt-dress with black tights and pumps.

Victoria’s style will stand her in good stead over the coming weeks and months as she finds herself increasingly in the spotlight. As Samantha Cameron observed of her time in No 10: ‘You learn super-quickly to wear colour.’