What was claimed
An image shows Keir Starmer sat next to Jimmy Savile.
Our verdict
This isn’t true. The photo has been digitally altered to add Savile’s face—it originally showed Mr Starmer sat alongside Gordon Brown.
Image of Keir Starmer has been edited to include Jimmy Savile
20 February 2024
An image falsely claiming to show the Labour party leader Sir Keir Starmer seated beside serial sexual abuser Jimmy Savile has been circulating widely on social media.
The photo, which has been shared 18,000 times on Facebook, TikTok and X (formerly Twitter), appears to show Mr Starmer seated next to the former-presenter and radio DJ who died in October 2011.
The image shared on Facebook includes text saying: “Sir Kier Starmer wants this photo permanently removed from the internet. Let’s keep it moving…[sic].”
However, the picture has been edited to include Savile’s face in the photo.
The original was posted by shadow chancellor, Rachel Reeves MP in December 2022 and shows a group of people—including Ms Reeves, fellow Labour MP Lisa Nandy and the Mayor of West Yorkshire Tracy Brabin watching a football match in Leeds.
In the forefront of the photo, Mr Starmer is seated alongside the former Labour Prime Minister Gordon Brown.
Savile’s face has been superimposed onto Mr Brown’s in the lower quality image being shared on social media.
We have previously written in depth about claims regarding Mr Starmer and Jimmy Savile.
Altered and manipulated videos and images can cause misinformation to spread widely online. It’s important to consider whether something is genuine before sharing. Our guides to spotting misleading images and videos can help you to do this.
Image courtesy of Chatham House
This article is part of our work fact checking potentially false pictures, videos and stories on Facebook. You can read more about this—and find out how to report Facebook content—here. For the purposes of that scheme, we’ve rated this claim as false because the image has been altered to include Jimmy Savile’s face in place of Gordon Brown, who was pictured in the original.