Add Axios as your preferred source to

see more of our stories on Google.

Photo illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios. Photos: Mike Kemp/In Pictures, Jay Shaw Baker/NurPhoto, Ben Stansall/AFP, and Brook Mitchell via Getty Images

On June 23, 2016, the Brexit referendum unleashed a populist tide that rewrote the rules of Western politics.

Why it matters: Keir Starmer was elected as a competent, level-headed antidote to 14 years of Conservative rule — a period consumed by austerity, ideological warfare and the chaos of leaving the European Union.