Sir Keir Starmer will begin what is expected to be his final week as Prime Minister with a diplomatic blitz as his expected successor Andy Burnham waits to take over.
Mr Burnham, the only candidate in Labour’s leadership process, is expected to officially succeed Sir Keir on Monday July 20.
No other challenger can get the required 81 MPs needed to stand against Mr Burnham, as he has the support of 322 out of Labour’s 403 MPs, and more are likely to nominate him on Monday when they return to Westminster.
Sir Keir will travel to Paris on Monday where he will join allies of Ukraine for a meeting of the “coalition of the willing”.
He is also expected to join Bastille Day events on Tuesday.
Elsewhere, Rachel Reeves is carrying out her final duties as Chancellor and is due to give her final Mansion House speech to the City on Tuesday, where she will lay out plans to support small businesses.
On Sunday, Ms Reeves warned Mr Burnham that he must remain “laser focused” on what he wants to achieve in power.
Speaking to the BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg, she said: “It is important that when Andy walks through that door, that he has a worked-through plan, because governing is hard in Britain, and lots of lots of challenges and shocks will come his way.
“What is really important is that him and his team are really clear about what they want to achieve. As those shocks come along, he needs to stay laser focused on those things that have always motivated him, have always driven him, and are the reason why he wants to lead our great country.”
Ms Reeves has conceded she will not stay on as Mr Burnham’s chancellor, and said it was “perfectly reasonable” for him to be ambitious when asked about claims he had been plotting a bid to enter Downing Street for over a year.
Mr Burnham is considering the possibility of an expanded budget in the autumn, according to the Financial Times.
The newspaper said that once installed as Labour leader, he is mulling over including a departmental spending review with the autumn fiscal statement, to set out his overall strategy until the next election.
