The mood music has also shifted in Paris, where a newfound admiration for Starmer has emerged after weeks of doubt over whether the Labour leader, whose party was seen as too close to Joe Biden’s former administration in the U.S., would be able to reboot the special relationship.
“[Starmer] is doing a great job,” said a French official. “He was flawless with [Trump in the Oval Office], a very complicated man with polar-opposite values to his, and whose main allies [Elon Musk] were putting pressure and mounted an odious campaign against him.”
“And he managed to remain true to himself” in his relations with Trump, the same official added.
In the U.K. House of Commons, Conservative former Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said of Starmer Monday: “Whilst I often take great delight in criticism of the government, I think this weekend he has not really put a foot wrong.”
Several fundamentals underlying Starmer’s position count in his favor: He is near the start of a possible five-year term with a large House of Commons majority behind him, in contrast to the more delicate political realities faced by Macron and Germany’s newly-elected Friedrich Merz. Barring a surprise shift in those dynamics, he should be in office for the duration of Trump’s second term.
Moreover, Britain, along with France, is one of the biggest military powers in Europe, which may count for something in Trump’s new era of realpolitik.
