As Sir Keir Starmer pays tribute to Ben Huntley who cared for his late brother Nick Starmer, when is St George's Day 2026?

During the St George’s Day reception held at Downing Street, Sir Keir Starmer said: “We’ve got Pimms, we’ve got English sparkling wine and we’ve got our brilliant showcases with Melton Mowbray pork pies, Lancashire Eccles cakes, Bakewell tarts and gin from Exmoor distillery. We were going to have Morris Dancers too at one point, but we’re saving them for the next Cabinet away day instead.

“Because one of the great things about this country is we have so many wonderful traditions and so many individual, personal reasons that make us proud to be English.

“For me – it always starts with football of course. I was there at Wembley in Euro 1996. I was there at Wembley in 2021 and I was there also last year when we went to Germany, where we came so close again.

“But that still makes the nation proud. Though whatever it is, whether it’s football, festivals, cricket, Shakespeare – his birthday tomorrow of course, or our music – from Elgar to the Rolling Stones, our art – from Tracy Emin to Turner or our universities, inventions and innovations – the world’s first vaccine was an incredible moment, the world wide web, the computer and of course our landscape.

“Everyone in this room will have their favourite spots. Whether it’s rocky coves and beaches in Cornwall or the incomparable beauty of the Lake District.

“My late mum struggled to walk, so she decided to have all her holidays in the Lake District where the only thing you can do is walk, but that summed her up.

“And we still go there with our children now. But you also have the Chalk Hills of the North Downs where I grew up: this is a beautiful country, rich with pride, potential and creativity.

“It’s also a country where a person like me who grew up working class and a person like the previous occupant, Rishi Sunak, an English Hindu, can both become Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. That for me is something I think we should always be proud of and never take for granted.”

During his address, Sir Keir Starmer honoured three individuals whom he believes honours English principles of "service, generosity and respect.” He spoke about window cleaner Isaac Davidson, a window cleaner who helped to remove racist graffiti from a Chinese restaurant in York last year.

Sir Keir Starmer also mentioned George Sutherland, a volunteer at a Telford food bank and nurse and Ben Huntley, a nurse who cared for his late brother, Nick Starmer, before his passing in December 2024.

Sir Keir Starmer said: “Sadly my brother passed on Boxing Day 2024 and it hit me like a bus.” He went on to say that “But because of Ben, my brother always felt cared for and respected, because of the way that he was treated by Ben and the whole team, and that was really important to a vulnerable man with stage four cancer going through a really challenging time.

“Ben, I’ll never forget what you did for me and my family.”

St George’s Day 2026 is on Thursday April 23.