It kicked off with the crisis over Greenland and rift with Donald Trump - and was followed by a dose of psychodrama over the Labour leadership courtesy of Andy Burnham and that unwanted by-election.
This week will be another high-stakes one for the prime minister as he heads to China to look for deeper trade ties against the backdrop of a volatile US and domestic resistance to Beijing at home.
"Like it or not, China matters for the UK," he declared ahead of the trip. "As one of the world's biggest economic players, a strategic and consistent relationship with them is firmly in our national interest.
"That does not mean turning a blind eye to the challenges they pose - but engaging even where we disagree."
Read more from Sky News:
What's on the table in PM-Xi talks?
This visit has been a year in planning and will be a big symbolic moment, if rather ill-timed, given the troubles he's facing in his own backyard. Starmer will be the first UK prime minister to visit China since Theresa May in 2018.
His goal is to try to drum up trade with the world's second-biggest economy. He hopes this will help spur the economy and help Labour make an impact on the cost of living - now his number one priority for government.
His challenge is to navigate that while not triggering Trump. Just days ago, the US president threatened a 100% tariff on Canada if PM Mark Carney did a trade deal with Beijing.
He will also have to face down criticism at home as the political consensus hardens against China due to concerns over national security threats and human rights.
It's been over a decade since David Cameron hailed a "golden era" of close economic relations with China, as the UK hosted President Xi Jinping on a state visit.
From golden age to ice age
Since that period, relations between the two nations cooled amid concerns over national security and Chinese espionage, China's alliance with Russia, human rights abuses of the Uyghur population, and the crackdown on democracy in Hong Kong.
The controversy around the government's approval of a Chinese mega-embassy last week - after years of delay - is a reflection of the deep unease many feel about an expanding Chinese footprint in the UK.
It has not been well received by Washington, which believes the embassy will allow for widespread spying, and was opposed by a number of MPs across the House.
Read more from Sky News:
Everything we know about new Chinese embassy
That is why this reset moment, spearheaded by Starmer, carries consequence. He must navigate both those economic opportunities while managing critical matters of national security and an increasingly fractious geopolitical backdrop.
In an interview with Bloomberg on the eve of his trip, the prime minister said he wanted to take a "more consistent" approach to China rather than "veering from a Golden Age to an Ice Age" as he insisted the UK did not have to compromise on national security to pursue business interests (those opposed to the mega-embassy disagree).
On the economic opportunities, the prize is clear: the UK wants to do more trade with the world's second-biggest economy, and the PM will be taking a delegation of 60 business and cultural leaders with him to that end.
What does Starmer want from China?
China is already the UK's third-largest trading partner and supports 370,000 jobs. Starmer wants to do more.
In the global context, the reset with China will, of course, carry risk with Trump, but the recent actions and behaviour of the US president, who sparked a national outpouring of anger after denigrating British servicemen who lost their lives fighting alongside US troops in Afghanistan, can only help the UK's case when it comes to China.
Be it Trump's ambivalence over NATO, aggression towards Greenland, threats of tariffs or hostility to the UK and European allies, the US has turned from the cornerstone of the post-war order to an unreliable ally.
In an increasingly tense space between two global powers, middle powers like the UK can no longer seek sanctuary under the umbrella of the US and need to navigate a more complex path: in recent months, the leaders of the EU, France's Macron and Germany's Merz have all beaten a path to Xi's door.
For the PM's part, he insists the UK can maintain its relationship with its closest ally, the US, while pursuing trade opportunities with China, without being forced to choose between the two.
"I'm often invited to simply choose between countries. I don't do that," he told Bloomberg. "We've got very close relations with the US, of course we want to, and we will maintain that business, alongside security and defence."
For China's part, it wants better access to UK markets, be that in investments or exports. It will also want to depoliticise a relationship that has in recent years been dominated by questions of security threats and the status of Hong Kong.
In a sign of the growing warmth between London and Beijing, officials said Starmer would work with China on illegal migration and more financial co-operation.
Starmer is sometimes in private rather prickly about the tag "never here Keir", and tells colleagues that these international trips are all about, and only about, delivering for the public - be it on trying to deal with illegal migration with the Germans or the French, or trying to put more money in the pockets of working people through seeing off the worst of Trump's tariffs, or trying to drum up business.
Dealing with China will, of course, come with controversy and risks, leaving the impression that the prime minister cares more about globe-trotting than the domestic grind.
The government this week is trying to highlight freezing prescription charges, announcing plans to cap ground rents - delivering on a manifesto pledge while also trying to placate MPs - and an £80m support package for pubs after the business rates backlash.
Can PM turn things around?
It's been hard for Starmer to make much progress on the cost of living message in between the drama of Trump and then Burnham, but government insiders tell me that, at last, polling is beginning to improve for Labour with people that are feeling the benefits of some of their cost of living initiatives, be it breakfast clubs, free childcare or their decision to lift the two-child benefit cap.
For a prime minister acutely aware of his domestic fragility, with the public and his party, a five-day trip to China right now will do little to steady the nerves. There are many in the party mutinous over Starmer's decision to block Burnham from standing in the Gorton and Denton by-election.
The prime minister is not in a good place to try to lead from the front and charm in the tearooms when he is 5,000 miles away.
But as he struggles with the politics, he is pressing on with trying to secure some delivery on the pledges he made when he won the election.
His calculation is that more business with the world's second-biggest economy will help him do that - and could ultimately give him some much-needed help back home.
Mr Pretti, a 37-year-old ICU nurse, was shot dead by immigration enforcement agents in Minneapolis at the weekend, just weeks another officer from the controversial unit killed 37-year-old Renee Good in the same city.
Minneapolis: Catch up on latest updates
The response from top White House officials, notably Trump adviser Stephen Miller and homeland security secretary Kristi Noem, has provoked a furious backlash from Mr Pretti's family, leading Democrats, members of the public, and - increasingly - Republican politicians.
Speaking on Tuesday, Mr Trump said he wants to "de-escalate" the situation in Minneapolis following talks with the Democratic mayor and state governor, and described the killing of Mr Pretti as "very unfortunate".
When leaving the White House for a rally in Iowa, Mr Trump was asked whether he agreed Mr Pretti was a "would-be assassin" - as described by Mr Miller.
"No. Not as a - no," the US president said. "Listen, you can't walk in with guns. You can't do that, but it's just a very unfortunate incident."
Later, when speaking to reporters before a rally in Iowa, Mr Trump repeated his view that "certainly, (Mr Pretti) shouldn't have been carrying a gun".
He added: "Look, bottom line, everybody in this room, we view that as a very unfortunate incident.
"Everyone, unless you're a stupid person."
Under the Second Amendment of the US Constitution, the rights of citizens to carry a gun are protected. That right has traditionally been staunchly defended by Republicans.
Local officials in Minnesota have also said Mr Pretti was carrying a handgun legally.
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In an interview with Fox News, the US president added that he was going to "de-escalate" federal immigration operations in Minneapolis, but insisted this was "not a pullback but a change".
It came ahead of an incident where a man lunged at Democratic Minnesota representative Ilhan Omar during a town hall and tried to spray her with an unknown substance.
Ms Omar, who has faced repeated attacks from Mr Trump and his administration, and who has called for ICE to be abolished, did not appear to be injured and continued speaking after.
Meanwhile, two Republican senators have broken ranks with the party and called for Ms Noem to resign in the wake of the shootings.
Asked if he had confidence in Ms Noem, Thom Tillis, representing North Carolina, told reporters on Capitol Hill: "No, not at all. I think she should go."
Read more:
Watch: 'It's coming to your city if we don't stand up'
'The normal rules of engagement have been thrown out'
The senator, who is not seeking a second term, added that some of the secretary's actions showed "amateurish assistant-manager-sort of thought processes".
Alaskan senator Lisa Murkowski also told Sky's US partner network NBC News: "Yes, she should go."
Everything here feels torn in two; different sides so far apart and so alarmed at the behaviour of the other.
It's genuinely frightening to wonder where this might go next.
I've spent the past few days in Minneapolis as the midwestern city absorbed the killing of Alex Pretti. The voices on the streets there echo.
"Leave us alone. We don't need y'all here. We don't want y'all here."
"How many more people have to die?"
Drive for 250 miles in a dead straight line, south, along Interstate 35 from Minneapolis and you eventually reach Des Moines.
Minnesota becomes Iowa and a blue Democrat state becomes a red Republican one.
Iowa is Trump country. He's here for a rally to kick off the midterm election season.
It's a good place to test the mood. Because if there is anxiety here, well that's a problem for him.
Four hours before the rally's start time, a lone merch seller was braving the -15C weather outside the Horizon Event Center in the Des Moines suburbs.
"USA, USA," he shouted. "The hats are $30… I take cards! Tap and pay!"
For a nation apparently gripped by a cost of living crisis, it didn't show here. His hats and beanies were flying off the cart he'd stacked full.
Only the most loyal Trump fans would turn up to a rally like this on a Tuesday afternoon in temperatures so low. But I wondered if they had been moved or swayed by the weekend shooting.
What did they make of the killing of an American citizen on an American street by American immigration agents?
"Huge bummer, wished it hadn't have happened, but I feel like there were a lot of choices made by some people that were not the right ones and that's just really unfortunate but what happens sometimes," one woman said.
"Don't bring a gun to a rally. That's just dumb," a man said.
"Isn't that the Second Amendment right?" I said.
"Is it?" he said.
"Isn't it?" I replied, confused.
"Pick and choose your battles, right?" he said, closing down the conversation.
"It's very unfortunate, it's just it's terribly sad… I think we have to regain control on many aspects," another woman said.
A gulf made clear
A couple of young women walked past and a few of their words were carried through the air.
"You see all those weird protesters?"
"Yeah! I took some videos…"
"Weird protesters" - her tone was so telling. She couldn't comprehend their stance. It was like it had never occurred to her that there could be another way.
It emphasised the gulf: two sides who can't even begin to understand the other.
'This is not America'
The "weird" anti-Trump protesters were gathered on the crossroads a hundred metres away. I was surprised by their number, and their anger.
"I think everyone saw the video, it kind of speaks for itself. It was clearly murder," one man said.
"I think it's awoken a darkness that has been hiding in the shadows, and too many people are supporting him," a woman added.
Then an elderly lady, with an emotion I hadn't anticipated: "I'm 74 years old, and I've never seen anything like this in the history of my country. I'm appalled, I'm disgusted. I'm scared. They're being murdered in the streets for simply saying this is wrong. This is not America. That's just for the love of God. Please stop it."
Read more:
Watch: 'It's coming to your city if we don't stand up'
'The normal rules of engagement have been thrown out'
The Trump show goes on
The president's motorcade slipped in around the back. He wouldn't have seen or heard the protesters.
He spoke for an hour. The only mention of the weekend events in Minneapolis? A sentence or two on crime.
"We have brought down crime very substantially. In Minnesota, we've taken out thousands of hard criminals, hardened, vicious, horrible criminals," he said.
That's a questionable claim at best. The government's own statistics from ICE raids over the last year show that the overwhelming majority of those arrested had no criminal records at all.
He'd not come to talk about Minneapolis. He'd come, reluctantly, to talk about the economy. That's what his team think he must focus on.
"We inherited the highest prices in the history of our country, and we've rapidly brought them down. And that's what we want to do…"
A couple of the protesters managed to sneak inside. There were minor interruptions.
"You know they're paid agitators right?" the president said.
Back outside, the protesters are not paid - of course not. But they are agitated. And it's growing.
He owns the outcome, because of his decision to block Andy Burnham - someone voters on the streets of Gorton and Denton thought by far to be the strongest candidate.
And nobody can anticipate the result, which Labour MPs think could trigger a coup against the prime minister should Labour come third.
Read more:
PM defends Burnham block
Reform and Greens eye major by-election scalp
The east Manchester seat, with a 13,000 majority, has been Labour since before the Second World War, once regarded as an irredeemably poor, post-industrial area that was home to railway workers.
While some parts remain poor, others are the beneficiary of the economic improvement of Greater Manchester as a whole, as well as an area that has seen the upside of Emirati millions around the adjacent Manchester City stadium.
And as such, it is a melting pot of many differing communities, once united by Labour politics.
On 26 February, we will see if this remains the case.
Pressure from left and right
The constituency, northeast of the city, is shaped like a hammer, according to Rob Ford, the Manchester University political scientist.
The handle of the hammer, in the south of the seat, has several wards that are very ethnically diverse, with large Muslim populations, but also large populations of students and young graduates.
"That looks like exactly the kind of territory where Labour has been losing support to the Greens in national polling recently," said Ford.
Towards the head of the hammer, which is Gorton, and the wards in Tameside, it's much whiter, 90% white, and much more working class, with fewer graduates.
"That looks like the kind of terrain where Labour has been losing ground to Reform recently," Ford said.
Labour MPs up to Andrew Gwynne, who stepped down on Thursday, were sufficiently able to unite both parts of the community to ensure the seat was perpetually Labour.
But with politics fracturing, populism rising, could a new approach work?
Professor Ford said: "You've got very different, highly charged local issues in the two halves of the seat. In the Manchester part, the more Muslim and at young professional part, there'll be a lot of campaigning on Gaza, particularly with the Workers Party picking up a high-profile candidate in the Gorton part.
"You may see a lot of quite polarising identity politics from Reform UK, potentially on issues like crime, grooming, gangs, immigration and so forth."
All of which point to a campaign led by Reform slugging it out with the Greens, and none of that looks like the campaign Starmer's Labour would run.
As the leader of Manchester City Council, the choice of many Labour MPs, also ducks this race, it is less clear, given the national political backdrop, how the party can hang on.
Joshi Herman, founder of the Manchester Mill, a journalism website with deep links in the community, said: "I think if Andy Burnham had been the Labour candidate, they would have been strong favourites to win here."
While not guaranteed due to the national polling picture, he says Burnham is a "very popular mayor, and he goes down well in places like this".
A test for Polanski
But can the Greens, the face of the populist left, inhabit a space that even Burnham voters might be attracted to?
At a rally on Tuesday night, Zack Polanski called this the "blockbuster" by-election of this parliament - as he commenced his first electoral test as leader.
Translating membership numbers and polling figures into a real result would be a massive coup for the Green leader, who is pitching to be the heir to Jeremy Corbyn's shade of Labour Party.
He had three times the number of supporters as the lunchtime unveiling of Reform UK's candidate.
But can the Greens show they are a party of the north as well as the southern middle class?
Meanwhile, Reform unveiled academic and TV pundit Matt Goodwin as their candidate.
They mentioned but did not dwell on more contentious, populist campaign techniques like grooming gangs in their news conference, instead preaching to voters who think Britain is broken and only their brand of radicalism can fix it.
But the big question is just how hard Labour will try to win, given the prime minister's own future is at stake.
They could throw everything at it - Angela Rayner is a neighbour, along with Lisa Nandy and chief whip Jonathan Reynolds. Starmer himself could go.
Do they put in the money and force the visits, as they did in Batley and Spen, the last time the Labour leader's future was on the line in a by-election?
Or do they quietly let this one slip, knowing it's a diversion and a costly lost cause, whatever the consequence?
All this is at stake on 26 February. It is clear that what matters will be how this by-election is fought, not just who wins on the night.
Unless you believe in Pope Joan, the legendary female pontiff who supposedly reigned under the title of John VIII, the 63-year-old will become the first female leader of the church in England's history.
It's a big deal.
The confirmation of election service, which will take place in St Paul's Cathedral on Wednesday, has been part of the church's history since St Augustine was chosen to be the very first Archbishop of Canterbury in 595 AD.
Part Christian liturgy and part legal process, the ceremony serves as a way for the ecclesiastical court (the church's court) to confirm that last year's election, which chose her to replace Justin Welby, was legal.
Ahead of Wednesday's confirmation, documents similar to banns of marriage have been posted on the doors of St Paul's and Lambeth Palace, visibly telling the congregation to declare if they have any reason to doubt the legality of Dame Sarah's election.
Also, much like a wedding, she will enter St Paul's as the former Bishop of London and halfway through become the archbishop, having declared her loyalty to King Charles. Her exit will then be led by a patriarchal cross.
Read more from Sky News:
Who is Sarah Mullally?
Dame Sarah's rise to the position is, by any measure, remarkable.
After leaving school, she decided to pursue nursing, ending up as the Department of Health's chief nursing officer from 1999 to 2004. A career change saw her enter the clergy, and now she is about to become the worldwide Anglican communion's top priest.
It has been just over 10 years since the first female bishop was consecrated into the CoE and just under a year since Cherry Vann was confirmed as the Archbishop of Wales.
In many ways, this feels like the next natural step for the CoE. What one has to be aware of is that the Roman Catholic Church, with whom the Anglican communion are allies, may need to adjust to a female leader.
While women are not allowed to be ordained as bishops, priests, or deacons in the Catholic Church, Dame Sarah was acknowledged by Cardinal Vincent Nichols, the outgoing head of the Catholic Church in England and Wales, during evening prayers just days ago.
It is perhaps his way of saying, "it's your business who you choose to be archbishop, but we see and accept you".
She knows how to take the pain…
Dame Sarah could face a tougher job in winning over some Christians who do not feel like she is worthy of the position.
Many people have said they are disappointed by the appointment. But then, people can be easily disappointed in life.
Dame Sarah is becoming archbishop at perhaps the angriest time in England's history and no doubt will be challenged from the moment she leaves St Paul's.
But having walked the Living in Love and Faith project through its process of consideration, she already has a few nails through her hands and feet; she knows how to take the pain.
And who better to try to fix the open wounds that the world seems determined to inflict than a former nurse?
…but can she heal the church?
She will apply to the task of being the 106th Archbishop of Canterbury her nursing skills of patience, kindness, and a determination to heal the church.
After all, she has reached the pinnacle of two "callings" in life, which suggests she has the mettle of servant leadership to help the church forward. In return, I expect she mostly hopes for goodwill and prayer to get through.
Although she's not like a Pope, so can't be autocratic in any way, I would imagine that because of the nature of the job, she is going to try to nurse the church out of pain.
During the six and a half to seven years she will have as archbishop, she is going to think it is crucial to enable the word of God to flourish.
And perhaps there is a chance that the church has decided it needs a mother.