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Fifteen months into his time in office, the domestic challenges facing UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer are often highlighted. However, what is less discussed is his string of achievements abroad.
These include the negotiation of a Brexit reset agreement with the EU, plus a trade agreement with India, the Asian giant that is forecast will soon be the third-largest economy in the world, leapfrogging both Germany and Japan.
Bilateral UK-India trade on goods and services is estimated at £41 billion ($54 billion) in the 12 months to September 2024. The trade deal agreed by the two nations in July is expected to significantly boost this figure, such as by reducing tariffs on many goods while opening new market channels for both economies.
Of course, London and New Delhi have long had a unique historical relationship that continues in today’s Commonwealth. What Starmer is seeking to do is entrench this in the context of the new trade deal.
In his first official trip to India last week, Starmer was widely feted, with hundreds of billboards showing pictures of him and his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi. Starmer was also a guest at the sixth Global Fintech Fest in Mumbai, a key Asian business summit.

To try to help move Trump closer to UK positions on key issues, Starmer used the full pomp and pageantry of the state.

Andrew Hammond

However, it is perhaps Starmer’s currently good relationship with Trump that may be his biggest and most unexpected foreign policy accomplishment to date. The UK prime minister has struck up an unexpectedly positive rapport with the US president, despite their deep personal and political differences, helping to secure an early UK tariff agreement with the Trump team.
Despite the many political differences between the conservative, populist Trump and the left-of-center Starmer, the two leaders appear to have a constructive bilateral partnership. This builds on the traditional ties between the US and UK, which are founded on demographics, religion, culture, law, economics, politics, defense and security.
Given that both Trump and Starmer are expected to be in power until 2029, the relationship they have forged might well be very important for international relations in the years ahead. This is particularly the case with some potentially exceptionally difficult diplomacy ahead to try to bring a conclusion to the war in Ukraine, despite continued Russian intransigence.
The positivity of the current US-UK relationship was showcased at last month’s state visit by Trump, which had the potential to be a very tricky moment as it came just days after the sacking of London’s ambassador in Washington, Peter Mandelson, over his relationship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The UK government understandably feared that Epstein-related allegations in the media during the trip may have darkened the atmosphere.
Trump is no stranger to such problems, including during his last UK state visit in 2018. Even by his own standards of disruptive diplomacy, that trip was often off-message, seemingly undermining then-Prime Minister Theresa May at virtually every turn. Not only did Trump declare the UK to be in “turmoil” following several Cabinet resignations, but he also undermined key facets of May’s Brexit policy and praised Boris Johnson, who had just quit as a minister and who ultimately succeeded her in 2019.
But last month’s Trump visit turned into a significant success, not least on the business front. Significant investments were announced, including the launch of a data center project by OpenAI and Nvidia. Moreover, Blackrock announced an investment of about £500 million as part of a joint venture with Digital Gravity Partners that is focused on acquiring and modernizing data center infrastructure.
The UK government claimed the investment total was £150 billion and that this would create 7,600 jobs. The key drivers are artificial intelligence, semiconductors, telecommunications and quantum computing, alongside enhanced energy collaboration, including nuclear power.
To try to help move Trump closer to UK positions on key issues — such as the US tariff regime, including on UK steel imports, and transatlantic tensions over drug pricing, with Trump pressuring British pharmaceutical firms to slash the price of American prescription medicines — Starmer used the full pomp and pageantry of the state. He knows Trump retains a deep affection for the nation, not least as his mother was born in Scotland.
Traditionally, US presidents serving a second term are not offered a state visit; instead, they are usually invited for tea or lunch with the monarch, as was the case most recently with Barack Obama and George W. Bush. However, an exception was made for Trump, who, unlike Obama and Bush, is serving nonconsecutive terms.
Starmer will now hope that last month’s successful trip will help cement his unlikely political friendship with Trump. However, significant risks remain, as the mercurial US president’s policy positions remain unpredictable.

• Andrew Hammond is an associate at LSE IDEAS at the London School of Economics.