Sir Keir Starmer has “hauled the Labour Party back to the common sense position,” a senior Labour source declared on Wednesday, following a landmark Supreme Court ruling clarifying that the terms “woman” and “sex” in the Equality Act refer to biological sex rather than gender identity.
The decision, which has significant implications for the application of equality law in contexts such as hospitals, prisons, and refuges, confirms that individuals with a Gender Recognition Certificate (GRC) identifying as female may still be legally excluded from single-sex spaces, if such exclusion is deemed proportionate.
The Prime Minister, who has faced years of scrutiny over Labour’s position on gender identity and women’s rights since becoming leader in 2020, now appears to have drawn a clear line. The ruling offers legal clarity after years of political ambiguity and culture war disputes.
Sir Keir inherited a party in 2020 where the leadership — under Jeremy Corbyn — had fully embraced a self-identification model. In 2018, Mr Corbyn said, “Where you have self-identified as a woman, then you are treated as a woman.” That position was echoed in the 2020 leadership race, with MPs such as Lisa Nandy and Rebecca Long-Bailey backing pledges that supported trans rights, including the expulsion of members accused of transphobia.
Sir Keir initially backed pledges from the LGBT Labour group, affirming that “trans women are women, trans men are men, and non-binary identities should be respected.” However, over time, and amid growing public concern and internal party friction, his stance has evolved.
Speaking in 2023, he attempted to reconcile biology and identity, telling the Sunday Times that “99.9%” of women “haven’t got a penis,” before later clarifying to BBC Radio 5 Live: “A woman is an adult female.” By April 2024, he went further, backing Canterbury MP Rosie Duffield’s previous statement that “only women have a cervix,” admitting, “Biologically, she is of course right about that.”
Ms Duffield, a long-time critic of Labour’s stance on gender policy, resigned the Labour whip in September 2024. She had previously described Labour’s approach as “hypocritical” and “cruel.” On Wednesday, reacting to the court decision, she said the party was now “trying to backtrack and pretend they were always on board,” though she welcomed the potential shift in tone.
Speaking to Sky News, Ms Duffield said: “Certainly women like me and all of the gender-critical so-called feminists who have been very silent, very quiet in Labour and haven’t supported me – perhaps they’ll feel braver now about speaking up.”
The wider political fallout continues. Equalities Secretary Kemi Badenoch, one of Labour’s most vocal critics on the issue, praised the court’s clarity and accused the Government of previously “bending the knee” to ideology. Writing in The Telegraph, she asserted that “single sex changing rooms for women in workplaces are not just permitted, but required by law.”
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Mrs Badenoch added: “The era of Keir Starmer telling us that some women have penises has come to an end. Hallelujah!”
Sir Keir has also distanced himself from controversial Scottish gender reform proposals backed by Nicola Sturgeon’s SNP, which would have allowed 16 and 17-year-olds to self-identify. Labour opposed the move, citing concerns over its clash with UK-wide equality legislation — a stance which aligned with the Conservative Government’s use of a Section 35 order to block the reforms.
Despite criticism from across the political spectrum, Starmer’s recalibration of Labour’s transgender policy appears to be resonating with voters who may have been previously alienated. A party source suggested that moving away from the “activist” stance of previous leadership has been “one of the reasons” Labour has rebuilt trust after the 2019 electoral collapse.
As the dust settles on the Supreme Court ruling, Sir Keir faces the challenge of maintaining balance — safeguarding rights while restoring clarity — in what remains one of the most divisive issues in modern British politics.
