Starmer’s waning influence is apparent at awkward G7 summit

The wait for Keir Starmer’s first session of the G7 gathering in Évian-les-Bains was undoubtedly awkward. A meeting about the future of Ukraine had been due to start at 9am but more than half an hour later, Donald Trump , Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Emmanuel Macron were nowhere to be seen. On a live Reuters feed, Starmer could be seen standing next to the leaders of Canada and Japan as they milled about making small talk. “Are they, are they having a meeting?” the British prime minister could be heard asking. If he was referring to the missing attenders, and they were indeed having a meeting, it was clear he hadn’t been invited. It was a moment that epitomised Starmer’s fragility during what could be one of his final outings on the world stage. Arriving on the red carpet at the Hotel Royal, the luxurious G7 venue on the shores of Lake Geneva, he smiled and shook hands, seemingly untroubled by the prospect of a leadership challenge that could come within days if Andy Burnham is elected in the Makerfield byelection on Thursday. Starmer’s team wanted to focus on the prime minister’s international presence, but the drama at home could not be avoided. The prime minister took time away from his international-summit happy place to appear on a video call with Labour members and ask vetted questions. Inevitably, he faced harder-edged queries from journalists. …