All this means that being a good “people person” goes hand-in-hand with knowing where the cameras are.
“There’s the optics, and you have the power of being the incumbent, the British Prime Minister on the world stage, so how do you use that?” says Giles Kenningham, a former Downing Street head of press under David Cameron. “On the other hand, you need high levels of emotional intelligence, which you can’t teach people. That’s adapting to different situations, striking up a rapport and empathy. The bilaterals have scripts that have been pre-agreed, so it’s about finding wins Number 10 can leverage. The jury’s still out on Starmer’s ability in that area.”
Kenningham’s old boss “was very good, he had a natural air of authority, and could walk into a room and strike up a rapport, while also having that encyclopaedic memory, which you need with so many different players around.”
Johnson similarly thrived with a room to work, Harri says. Macron, meanwhile, is “just ridiculously charming”, and makes a point to shake the hand of every member of a foreign delegation, while also being game for an after-dinner drink to thrash out some common ground. Scholz, Harri recalls, is the opposite.
“It’s also a bit of a catwalk, so there’s showing off: who’s tallest, who’s the best dressed. There’s a lot of group photos where they’re all trying to project what they can for their country.” Positioning, literally, matters. “Starmer’s quite average height: smaller than Biden, taller than Macron,” Harri points out.