Sir Keir Starmer drained his beer and stood up to leave the Proud Mary restaurant in Johannesburg on Friday night. He had spent 30 minutes in a charm offensive with the travelling press pack tailing him to the G20 summit in South Africa.

Out for a fire-cooked steak dinner, three middle-aged South African ladies spotted Starmer and made haste to pose for a photo with him. One of them, Nomsa Lehlehla, blushed as she told The i Paper after the encounter: “I’m flustered like a schoolgirl. I can’t believe a British prime minister is here.”

If only voters back home felt the same. Starmer’s three-day diplomatic binge over the weekend was a rebuff to domestic criticism that “never here Keir” was abroad again ahead of another difficult week at home, with a tax-hiking Budget on Wednesday.

In a deliberate snub to the South African hosts and the fundamental idea of international institutions, Donald Trump failed to show, even though the US was due to take over chairing the G20 on Sunday.

But, over the weekend Starmer shrugged off the argument that traditional alliances are failing without the input of the US, arguing Britain needs to be both front and centre of world affairs.

He insists investment and therefore jobs can be driven by glad-handing foreign leaders, and was particularly pleased with a £4bn investment in the UK announced by Indonesia after a sign-off meeting on the deal on Saturday morning.

In fact, Starmer appeared relaxed for a leader who was coming to the end of a fortnight of internal party chaos, alongside polling showing he’s the most unpopular prime minister in history.

© iNews