Why is Keir Starmer meeting with Emmanuel Macron – and will it do his election prospects any good?

As the Labour leader prepares to hobnob with the French president, Sean O’Grady asks if this means next year’s election is already in the bag

Keir Starmer is set to make his most high-profile appearance yet on the world stage when he meets Emmanuel Macron next week (PA/Getty)

In a move that has been widely, and appropriately, reported as a “coup”, Keir Starmer is to make his most high-profile appearance yet on the world stage when he attends a formal meeting with the president of the French Republic, Emmanuel Macron, next week.

Although heads of state and governments do sometimes meet with opposition politicians, the French are normally sticklers for protocol and status, and the rules are only rarely relaxed.

Macron was diplomatic enough to inform Rishi Sunak of the forthcoming meeting when the pair were in Delhi for the G20 last week. Given how much store Sunak places on warming relations with France and the EU, and his previous successful summit meeting with Macron last March, the news may have come as something of a disappointment.