Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has warned of the rise of the “populist” far-right as progressive leaders gathered in the United Kingdom to discuss how to defeat such opponents.

Fresh from his visit to the United Nations in New York, Albanese met with like-minded leaders at the Global Progress Action summit on day one of his three-day visit to the UK.

The summit is a gathering of progressive leaders and policy experts from more than 20 countries.

Attendees included Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, Iceland’s Kristrun Frostadottir, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez and UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer.

Albanese said Australians were “concerned about elements of the far right rising in various countries”.

“Our job is to make sure that people continue to have faith in the system,” he said.

Albanese said he did not want to see the rise of populist organisations such as Nigel Farage’s Reform UK.

“Parties and governments have to come up with solutions, not seek to divide people.”

Albanese was later welcomed to Downing Street for one-on-one talks with Starmer, whose plummeting political favourability is in stark contrast with the ascendant Australian leader

The UK and Australia have similar values and a bond that is being strengthened with the AUKUS agreement, Albanese told reporters after the meeting.

“We also talked and have agreed to further advance our relationship through critical minerals by sharing co-operation as well,” he said.

Albanese praised the UK-Australia free trade agreement, which entered into force in May 2023, saying “we’re seeing exports to the United Kingdom increase across a range of products, particularly in food areas and agriculture”.

“We’ve always had bipartisan relations between Australia and the UK,”  Albanese said after a “constructive” meeting with UK opposition leader Kemi Badenoch of the Conservatives and members of her front bench.

Head of Politics and International Relations at Monash University Zareh Ghazarian said Albanese’s emphatic election victory in May could be a path other leaders such as Starmer follow in the face of a rising tide of far-right movements and growing US isolationism.

“Issues such as service delivery, the state of the economy, seeking to address cost of living issues in the Australian context worked really effectively and I think they may provide a hint to the (UK) Labour Party about what sorts of issues they can focus on,” Ghazarian told AAP.

“What are often seen to be more traditional policy areas still resonate with voters, so I think it’s going to be a test over the coming months to see whether that continues or whether there is a genuine shift occurring in the appetites of voters in democratic systems.”

Albanese will travel to Balmoral to meet King Charles III on Saturday, before he addresses a crowd at the Labour Party Conference in Liverpool on Sunday, underscoring his close relationship with the progressive movement in the UK.

At the gathering, the party decides its approach and settles policy disputes.

“Obviously international events are going to be a major feature of the discussions around the conference, the relationship with Europe and the United States is going to be very important,” Ghazarian said.

Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles said AUKUS and economic opportunities, including Australia’s investment into the UK, would be front and centre of the talks with the British prime minister.

“In the last few years, we’ve really seen a very significant strategic dimension to be applied to what is our oldest relationship, and that’s very much through AUKUS,” Marles told Sky News.

“We are seeing us engage so much more closely together on strategic issues as a result of this, and that definitely will be part of the conversation that Anthony Albanese has with Keir Starmer.”

The prime minister’s final stop before heading home will be in the United Arab Emirates, where he will meet President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

The pair will discuss a free trade agreement known as the Australia-UAE Comprehensive Economic Partnership.

-AAP