But it’s not as if he doesn’t have other work to do.
Starmer was elected with a landslide in July on a promise to rebuild Britain after 14 years under the Conservatives. Years that saw the upheaval of Brexit, two referendums, five prime ministers, a pandemic, a war in Ukraine, rocketing immigration, a National Health Service on its knees, a self-inflicted market meltdown and rampant inflation.
Upon entering Downing Street, however, the Labour team were surprised at just how much of the prime minister’s time was eaten up by diplomatic duties. Of course, this is partly because Starmer’s former chief of staff Sue Gray failed to prepare the new government for the realities of power. “There was no plan,” one government aide said.
But since Morgan McSweeney, the mastermind behind the party’s election victory, replaced Gray in October, he has instilled a missing sense of discipline at No. 10, shaping a clear strategic direction. With Starmer so focused on the multiplying foreign crises, McSweeney has decided to mostly stay in London. He rarely travels with the prime minister — though that’s also because the government has a habit of veering off-course when he’s out of the country.
Downing Street’s strategy for managing these competing pressures has also involved bolstering the prime minister’s team with old hands who know what they’re doing — especially on foreign affairs. For example, when McSweeney asked previous post-holders for their advice upon taking the job, he was so impressed with Blair’s right-hand man Jonathan Powell, he appointed him national security adviser.
Starmer also picked Peter Mandelson, the godfather of the Blair-era Labour Party’s electoral success, to be the next British ambassador to the U.S.
