Sir Keir Starmer is facing a diplomatic nightmare in Washington as he desperately tries to shore up his relationship with Donald Trump.
Britain’s US ambassador Dame Karen Pierce is due to finish her posting in January and it is unclear whether she will continue after the President-elect enters the White House the same month.
Sir Keir held off appointing her successor until after the US election with David Miliband and Lord Mandelson among the Labour grandees under consideration for the role in the event of a Democrat win.
However, Trump’s stunning victory over Kamala Harris has given the Prime Minister a major headache given Labour’s previous remarks about the Republican strongman.
Since then Sir Keir and his ministers have repeatedly been forced to defend comments by foreign secretary David Lammy, who in the past called Trump a “neo-Nazi sympathising sociopath”.
It was understood that Ms Pierce could extend her term as she has previous experience working with Trump while he was in office from 2017 to 2021.
Reacting to Trump’s election win, Ms Pierce shared a picture of herself with the-then President in the Oval Office.
She wrote on X: “We look forward to deepening our already profound and successful partnership as we deal with the challenges of the 21st century.”
Cabinet minister Pat McFadden told Sky News on Thursday: “At the moment, she is doing an excellent job.
“She’s got the full confidence of the British Government, and we want her to keep on doing the job that she’s doing.
“And I think she’s going to be a very important interlocutor and adviser for the UK Government in this period of transition.”
He added: “I can’t say exactly when her term will end.
“She’s been doing it for a few years, but she’s there for the moment, she’ll be there for a while, and she’s doing an absolutely fantastic job for our country.”
But sources have suggested she will step down from the role in January after overseeing Trump’s transition.
He will officially become the 47th US President on inauguration day on January 20.
British ambassadors typically serve about four years in Washington DC and Ms Pierce has been in position since 2020.
She successfully navigated the final year of Trump’s presidency after her predecessor, Lord Darroch, was forced to resign when leaked correspondence revealed he described the former president’s administration as “inept and insecure”.
