PM finds time to appear on the Political Party podcast

Between blocking potential leadership rivals and jetting off on a diplomatic mission to China, Sir Keir Starmer took a moment to poke fun at Emmanuel Macron yesterday

The Prime Minister appeared on stage at Matt Forde’s Political Party podcast recording at the Duchess Theatre in London on Sunday.

And during the appearance he put on a pair of aviator shades and said, ‘Bonjour’, in reference to the French president sporting a similar pair at Davos last week.

He got a laugh from the audience at the West End theatre, before adding that he’d need his regular pair returned to him, or he wouldn’t be able to see in Parliament.

Sir Keir posted the clip on his new TikTok channel, tagging  President Macron  and captioning it with a quote from Top Gun, the film that popularised aviator sunglasses: ‘Talk to me, Goose’.

Macron raised eyebrows at the World Economic Forum in Davos last weekend with his choice of eyewear, but said he needed them to cover a burst blood vessel in his eye.

The PM was on stage just a day after he and the rest of Labour’s ruling National Executive Committee,  voted to block Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham from running in a by-election – which would have paved the way for him to mount a leadership campaign had he won the seat and returned to Parliament.

 Sir Keir launched a personal TikTok account last month even though the Chinese-owned app remains banned from government devices over security concerns. Downing Street said ‘security mitigations’ were in place to operate the PM’s account.

He is currently heading to Beijing  on the first visit by a British leader in eight years.

Published: 27 Jan 2026