Sir Keir Starmer had a big task ahead of him when he embarked for France with a plane full of journalists for the G7 Summit.
In the face of mounting speculation over an increasingly likely leadership challenge, the PM needed to go to Evian-les-Bains and prove he is still the right man for the job. An assured performance on the world stage could, to some extent, have made the infighting that is taking place at home look childish compared to what is at stake internationally.
But unfortunately, his lacklustre performance this week at the G7 didn’t cut it. It became immediately clear that his international influence is waning, with world leaders becoming increasingly aware that this could well be his last hurrah as PM.
Rather than being a leading double act with Macron, as he was last year, the PM seemed more isolated than usual. It was encapsulated by a hot-mic moment reported by the Guardian, where the prime minister was overheard asking “Are they having a meeting?”, when Donald Trump, Volodymyr Zelensky and Mr Macron turned up late to the opening session of the summit.
Meanwhile, his later insistence that he and Trump spent two hours at dinner on Monday night "sat next to each other, chatting to each other” came off more needy than genuinely reassuring when it comes to the state of the transatlantic alliance.
It shouldn’t be ignored that the prime minister has made some significant announcements this summit. On Tuesday, a £210m export finance package for Ukraine was agreed, along with a fresh package of sanctions on Russian shadow fleet vessels. And on Wednesday afternoon he went even further, issuing the largest penalty for financial sanctions breaches since Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine. The PM also announced £1.3bn in investment in AI and clean energy projects from companies in France and India.
None of this is to be scoffed at. But compared to last year’s joint press conference with Donald Trump, where the PM announced a UK-US trade deal, it doesn’t pack the same punch.
The announcements have also been almost entirely overshadowed by questions over the leadership contest. Instead of being asked about an upcoming EU summit, the date of which was announced yesterday, Sir Keir found himself instead fielding questions about an impending challenge from both Wes Streeting and Andy Burnham.
It was telling that the main story of Wednesday morning was his indication that the Greater Manchester mayor would be offered a cabinet job if he wins the Makerfield by-election - despite the fact that a victory in Makerfield would pave the way for Mr Burnham to immediately challenge the PM for his job.
It was a similar situation on Tuesday. As the PM made progress at the G7, Mr Streeting was in London announcing that he had the support of enough MPs to challenge the prime minister, saying he wants a “genuine contest” to decide who will replace Sir Keir.
Taking questions from lobby hacks on Wednesday, Sir Keir repeatedly tried to keep the focus on international affairs, steering it back to his achievements at the G7. But no matter how hard he tried, the awkward fact that his own party is publicly moving against him was the elephant in the room at a summit that - if Mr Streeting and Mr Burnham have their way - will most likely be his last.
