Keir Starmer critics ridiculed for trying to make him look bad for owning a 'donkey sanctuary'

Jeremy Corbyn was well known for having some of the most loyal fans in the business – sometimes, arguably, to a fault.

But it seems his successor has inherited some of that loyalty, as his supporters have proven today after reports made some revelations which his detractors were quick to jump on.

Of course, the transgressions Starmer is accused of are pretty far removed from accusations of being antisemitic or a terrorist-sympathiser.

According to a report from the Mail on Sunday Starmer is... a millionaire.

The front-page story reveals that in 1996 he bought a plot of land behind his parents' house which if it were sold – with planning permission it doesn't have – could possibly be worth up to £10m.

Starmer's team responded to a request for comment, saying that the field was bought for his late disabled mother, and it was used to house donkeys that Keir’s parents rescued and cared for. "After his mother lost the ability to walk, the field allowed her to still watch the donkeys from her home," they added.

They also confirmed the field was not for sale.

The article included that when he was working as a human rights lawyer, Starmer earnt £400 an hour, which definitely puts him in the 1 per cent, but can't be that shocking to anyone who has ever seen Bridget Jones.

The revelations didn't go quite as expected though. Instead of trashing Starmer's reputation as a "man of the people", most of the "people" found the whole thing amusing, if anything.

Firstly, the news itself wasn't particularly groundbreaking.

There was a suggested twist which would make it a lot more interesting though.

People were pointing out that him being successful and altruistic towards an ailing parent is actually... not a bad thing?

It's not like he actually has £10m in cash lying around right now, which the article did make quite clear, but people seemed to misunderstand...

While many on the right tweeted the story to try and make some sort of point (despite the fact that Boris Johnson is worth millions himself) and smear Starmer, lots of people pointed out there are more pressing matters we could be focussing on.

And speaking of his counterpart...

Earlier this week, Keir Starmer's approval rating overtook Boris Johnson's for the first time ever, after a widely praised speech following Johnson's easing of lockdown rules, and a number of stellar performances during PMQs, while the prime minister's coronavirus response is still being heavily criticised.

A couple of days after the figures were released, three prominent Tory MPs retweeted a doctored video by a far-right account attempting to smear Starmer with misleading editing, to make it look like he was talking flippantly about not prosecuting child grooming gangs.