He followed up with high-profile visits to India and China — seen by most in his team as successful. His allies have consistently defended this approach, stressing that representing Britain in the world is one of Starmer’s most important duties and that he has made a success of it. The prime minister has sought to project maturity by building a steady relationship with the unpredictable Trump at the same time as he seeks closer ties with Europe post-Brexit.
O’Sullivan, director of the U.K. in the World program at Chatham House, said Britain is now walking “a pretty difficult tightrope” of “flattering Trump, of offering concessions where we can, but figuring out how we defend particular economic interests, but also the interests of our allies, and particularly Ukraine.”
Peter Ricketts, former head of the U.K.’s diplomatic service, said the shift towards “a hyper-personalized world” demands Starmer’s presence. “Unless you are in the room with Donald Trump, you’re not influencing him,” Ricketts added.
Connecting the dots
Eighteen months on from the Labour landslide of 2024, however, Starmer’s premiership has flown into more severe difficulties at home. And it’s forcing a rethink.
An especially embarrassing climbdown over proposals to cut disability benefits partly unfolded as Starmer flew to the Hague for last year’s NATO summit. the prime minister appeared to admit he had been distracted from the issue, saying afterwards: “I was heavily focused on what was happening with NATO and the Middle East all weekend.”
There has been an effort to redraw Starmer’s priorities since the start of the year, with one adviser saying he now wants to spend 20 percent of his time on international matters and 80 percent on domestic concerns.