As his grip on No10 fades, Starmer looks increasingly isolated at the G7 summit

As day two of the G7 Summit draws to a close, one thing is clear: the atmosphere this week has seen a significant shift compared to last year. When Sir Keir Starmer arrived in Ottawa for the G7 in 2025, he was widely seen as the man who could salvage Nato’s relationship with the volatile Donald Trump, and was leading the way with Macron when it came to Ukraine. While the prime minister’s track record domestically was still bumpy, his international presence was strong enough to earn him significant points in his favour. But this year, the prime minister seems to be somewhat less of a leading figure. With growing questions over his political future, the PM has spent this G7 Summit so far keeping his distance from the media who have travelled out to France with him. Not only was the typical briefing that the prime minister gives to the travelling press pack postponed (from its typical timing on the plane, to day two of the trip), it was also cut short. The prime minister raised eyebrows among the travelling pack when he rushed off after just five questions as a result of a schedule clash. Downing Street has been clear that the briefing will be rescheduled, and that it was simply a result of timings slipping. But the disorder did not project a government in control of the agenda. open image in gallery Sir Keir Starmer is attending the G7 summit in France (Getty) It is tough timing for Starmer, who - just days before the summit - saw his Ministry of Defence fall into chaos with the excoriating resignation of defence secretary John Healey and veterans minister Al Carns. The summit also takes place just days before the Makerfield by-election - which is expected to return of Andy Burnham to Westminster with a push to replace Sir Keir as PM and Labour leader. The other leaders at the summit will be acutely aware that this year’s G7 may well be his last. Meanwhile, Britain’s failure to put forward a credible plan for defence (or at least a plan that has been accepted by Starmer’s own government) has marked the PM as a liability when it comes to Trump. While Starmer insisted that he has had a number of good conversations with the US president, at pains to make clear that the pair “get on really well”, the lack of a bilateral meeting on the agenda for the summit suggests that, this time around, Sir Keir is not a priority.