Too close to Starmer? Why Albanese intervened in UK politics

Liverpool: So much for cultural cringe, the idea of Australians showing undue deference to the mother country. At the British Labour conference in Liverpool on Sunday, it was Anthony Albanese being held aloft as an exemplar: a Tory-slaying, centre-left leader from the Antipodes who managed to come from behind to achieve a resounding re-election victory.

Though he would never say so, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer clearly hoped some of the Albo glow would rub off on his embattled government. For Albanese, the inevitability that he would be attacked at home as self-indulgent, hubristic and overly partisan for appearing at such an event was a risk worth taking.

As a smiling Albanese sat on the conference stage beside him, Starmer heaped praise upon his counterpart. Introducing the guest of honour as a “true friend of Britain”, Starmer hailed Albanese as “a real inspiration to those of us on the left, someone who is leading his country in the politics of renewal and, of course, winning a landslide victory earlier this summer”. The Labour loyalists in the audience burst into cheers, delighted to be reminded that a progressive government can face struggles in its first term and still emerge victorious, as Albanese’s team did after the Voice referendum failure.

When Albanese rose to speak, they gave him a standing ovation. Sitting in the crowd was Julia Gillard, who also received hearty applause as a pioneering female progressive leader.

A little over a year after achieving a crushing victory over the UK conservatives, Starmer is floundering in the polls and facing increasingly pointed questions about how long he can survive in the job. Four long years remain until the next British election is scheduled, but patience is clearly in short supply in the UK. Nigel Farage’s anti-immigrant Reform party is on the march, triggering alarm among British Labour loyalists about Starmer’s failure to resonate with voters. They needed a pick-me-up and Albanese was there to provide it.

Being in the birthplace of the Beatles, Albanese joked that he had to get his musical references out of the way early as he described his journey from Sydney to Liverpool as a “long and winding road”. It would have been impolite but accurate for Albanese to reference Help! to explain why Starmer had called him in to give a pep talk to the troops. “Help me if you can, I’m feeling down/And I do appreciate your being ’round,” Lennon and McCartney wrote. “Help me get my feet back on the ground/Won’t you please, please, help me?”

Albanese returned the favour to Starmer, saying he and “this man, this leader, this prime minister, my friend” shared an “absolute resolve to stand together and defend democracy itself”. As he stood at a lectern emblazoned with UK Labour’s slogan, Renew Britain, it sounded like an endorsement that Starmer should be allowed to keep doing his job.

Albanese pointed out some had predicted his government would be defeated or forced into minority at the May election, punished for high inflation like incumbents around the world.

“But one of the reasons we won re-election, and indeed were able to increase our majority is because in difficult times we offered people real hope,” he said. “We didn’t pretend that we had solved every problem in just three years, but we could point to an economy that was turning the corner.”

Take a sad song and make it better, one might say.

It was a rousing speech. Well received, too. Starmer and his colleagues were listening intently, alert for any tips they could harness to restore their standing with voters. Hanging in the air, from an Australian perspective, was the question of whether propping up Starmer’s leadership, revving up the UK Labour base and celebrating his trouncing of Peter Dutton should have been on Albanese’s agenda.

When the itinerary was announced for Albanese’s 11-day international trip to the United States, UK and the United Arab Emirates, his Labour Party conference appearance instantly jumped out as a questionable item.

His time at the United Nations General Assembly in New York was packed with important diplomatic meetings. So was his first day in London, where he met with Starmer, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez and Mark Carney on the sidelines of a progressive conference. A visit to Balmoral to see King Charles was more than just a courtesy call given the monarch has played an important role in influencing US President Donald Trump’s thinking on the Russia-Ukraine war and has publicly advocated the AUKUS pact.

The national interest being pursued in Liverpool was harder to discern, leading the Coalition to accuse Albanese of “swanning around” on a victory lap at the taxpayer’s expense. Albanese held meetings with senior Labour ministers after his speech, but this was not the reason he travelled to Liverpool, merely a bonus.

Building rapport and trust with fellow world leaders is essential, but there is a line between diplomacy and politicking. Scott Morrison was accused of going too far by appearing with Trump at a campaign-style rally during a 2019 trip to Ohio. So was Albanese when he described Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi as “the boss” at a Sydney stadium rally. His Liverpool expedition falls in the same contestable category.

A day after showing up at Downing Street carrying a pack of beers named after him, Albanese was basking in the glory of being feted as a centre-left titan. For a man at the zenith of his career and almost guaranteed of re-election, the offer of a star speaking slot was simply too tempting to refuse.

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