Keir Starmer on the way to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, to attend the G20 summit, a trip that cost £413,000. Photograph: Stefan Rousseau/ReutersKeir Starmer on the way to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, to attend the G20 summit, a trip that cost £413,000. Photograph: Stefan Rousseau/ReutersStarmer’s government increasing spending on foreign trips, figures showPM’s most costly quarter for travel was in last quarter of 2025, with the most expensive trip to Cop30 in Brazil
Keir Starmer’s government is spending an increasing amount on foreign trips, with almost 40 visits abroad adding up to more than £4m since he took office, the latest transparency figures have showed.
The prime minister had his most costly quarter for foreign travel in the last three months of 2025, with eight trips adding up to £1.2m.
The most expensive was his three-day visit to the Cop climate conference in Brazil, along with 29 officials, costing £413,000.
Starmer tells Labour MPs his foreign trips can help fix cost of living crisisRead moreThe trade trip to India with 45 staff on a commercial flight cost £341,000, while the G20 in Johannesburg along with 30 staff on an RAF plane came in at £367,000.
Starmer’s 39 trips abroad have earned him criticism from the Tories, who have called him “never here Keir”, while some of the prime minister’s own aides having tried to get him to spend more time in the UK and less on international diplomacy and attending summits.
However, Tony Blair, David Cameron and Theresa May made as many, if not more, trips abroad in their first two years in office. Blair’s annual travel spending was about £2m for 22 overseas visits in 2006.
Rishi Sunak, who was less keen on foreign visits, made only about 22 trips and delegated much of his diplomacy to Cameron, who was appointed as his foreign secretary, while Boris Johnson’s premiership was marked by the international travel bans of the Covid era.
Sunak’s trips appear to have been less costly than Starmer’s, with the G20 summit to Indonesia coming in at £204,925, the Cop conference in Egypt costing £112,000 and another in Dubai costing £119,000.
Downing Street sources said Starmer’s travel was vital and he was “banging the drum” for the UK and its business interests.
A government spokesperson said: “All PM travel is done with consideration to security requirements and value for taxpayers, and is central to rebuilding Britain’s global influence and keeping people safe through stronger alliances.
“These trips have helped secure billions in investment for the UK and tens of thousands of jobs, while strengthening our security, protecting British interests overseas and delivering real benefits for people at home.”
The figures emerged in the latest transparency publication released by the government. This showed hospitality given to ministers and their aides, with the culture team taking free tickets to the Brits, Baftas and Winter Olympics – all of which are linked to their brief. Starmer declared only a Munich Security Conference dinner and a reception at the North East Chamber of Commerce.
The transparency release also revealed the salaries of senior civil servants, with some of the highest earners including the chief executive of HS2 getting £660,000 a year, two Network Rail executives earning more than £550,000 and the chief executive of the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority earning £445,000.
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