French President Macron to host UK opposition leader

French President Emmanuel Macron is expected to host the leader of the UK's opposition Labour Party, Keir Starmer, at Elysee Palace in Paris on Tuesday.

The meeting comes as Starmer — increasingly confident that he can oust the ruling Conservatives and bring Labour back into government for the first time in well over a decade — has been making a number of appearances on the world stage.

Little information has been given about the contents of Tuesday's talks in Paris, but Starmer recently told The Financial Times in an interview that he would seek closer ties with the EU, while ruling out any attempt to rejoin the bloc, if he were to win.

No French endorsement
It is not unusual for Macron to meet with opposition leaders, but the talks in Elysee will not provide Starmer with any kind of endorsement from the French president.

Macron similarly met with now German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and opponent Armin Laschet ahead of the German election in 2021.

"It's really just a question of meeting and hearing what Labour would do differently and that's it," Georgina Wright, a European politics expert at French think-tank Institut Montaigne told AFP.

She predicted that Macron will be "as much as he can in listening mode" but may also "highlight France's priorities."
For the French, Starmer's visit is unlikely to generate much excitement, especially considering that it comes a day before a delayed state visit by King Charles and Queen Camilla.

UK elections on the horizon
Starmer has been trying to prove his worth as an international statesman, visiting Europol in The Hague last week and appearing with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and former Labour Prime Minister Tony Blair in Montreal.

The visit to Paris highlights the important relationship between the UK and France, one that has only recently begun to warm again after disputes over the Brexit leaving deal.

Recent opinion polls have put Labour up to 20 points ahead of the Conservatives who have been in power since 2010.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, who is the fifth Conservative prime minister to serve over that period, must call an election by January 2025.

The current term has seen the completion of Brexit, the coronavirus pandemic, soaring inflation and a cost-of-living crisis, reports Dw.