A few months ago, a shift, imperceptible to most, happened in Westminster.
It came one Wednesday afternoon after Prime Minister’s Questions as the journalists who make up the press gallery filed out of the House of Commons chamber and into a cramped space called the upper gallery.
Typically, 50 to 60 journalists pack around a long table where we strain to hear answers from the PM’s spokesman before most file out for lunch as the Opposition team take their turn. Then one day, something strange happened: the gallery remained full as the Labour team began to speak. The transition of power had already begun.
What started before the election gun had even been fired has continued at pace, culminating in Sir Keir Starmer being thrust into the heart of international politics at the Nato summit in Washington, just days after winning the election.
What was most surprising to those at the summit who watched the new Prime Minister up close, was his quiet confidence in the role which seems to have crept up on him, just as the subtle shift crept up on the press gallery journalists months ago.
It was even more marked because British prime ministers have typically dragged the baggage of Brexit into these rooms ever since the vote in 2016, given the........