Meeting Macron is a coup for Keir, but he should be wary too

YOU don’t easily forget an encounter with Emmanuel Macron. Mine was brief and in private, at the G7 summit in Germany last year. His hand was firm but he held my gaze even more tightly. A Downing Street colleague got a wink that she will cherish for ever — Gallic charm at its most intense.

- Guto Harri

We’ve seen others get the turbo-charged tactile treatment in public. Macron slid his arm round the back of Donald Trump, went for a full snog with Rishi Sunak and was all over President Zelensky like a rash.

So Sir Keir Starmer is guaranteed a moment today, and even i f he squirms at the public display of affection — from a smooth master of that dubious art form — their meeting will be a clear signal that things are going noticeably better for the Labour Party leader.

He will, without trying, tower over the petite president. He will also look chunky and dishevelled in comparison, but there’s little doubt that this will be a milestone in the growing stature of Sir Keir as a leader in waiting.

Opposition is tough when you are desperately trying to get noticed and nobody cares. It gets a little easier when you are courted, listened to, and analysed. And now that foreign leaders, as well as corporate Britain, are eager to get to know him, it is clear that expectations are growing fast that Sir Keir will be prime minister by the end of next year.