Sir Keir Starmer has deflated Nigel Farage’s hopes of becoming the country’s new representative in the US by picking Labour grandee Lord Peter Mandelson for the role instead.
Lord Mandelson served in the cabinets of Tony Blair and Gordon Brown and has worked as an EU trade commissioner, equipping him well, in some people’s eyes, for the job.
Others, however, had their fingers crossed for the Reform UK leader to be appointed based on what he describes as a close personal friendship with president elect Donald Trump.
Despite not meeting with Farage personally during a recent visit to his Mar-a-Lago home, Trump has described the politician as “my friend” and “the big winner of the last election in the UK”.
However, the MP for Clacton doesn’t appear to have even made the final shortlist, with former foreign secretary David Miliband, ex-development secretary Baroness Amos and ex-European trade commissioner Baroness Ashton of Upholland among the main contenders, as per The Times.
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“We need someone as the next ambassador to the US who is going to be able to promote our economic and security interests with one of our closest allies, and so I think he is a really good fit for the job,” Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander told Sky News.
A source also said Lord Mandelson’s appointment showed “just how importantly we see our relationship with the Trump administration”.
The incoming president is expected to introduce wide-ranging trade tariffs, with the UK government hoping a political ambassador appointment will “represent the UK’s economic and security interests in the USA”.
The news comes just days after Farage was pictured at Trump’s Florida resort alongside Reform’s new treasurer Nick Candy and Elon Musk, amid speculation that the Tesla CEO could make a substantial donation to the party.
The party leader described his hour-long meeting with Musk as “great” and “historic”, suggesting he had “learned a great deal about the Trump ground game”.
He also met with soon-to-be vice president JD Vance on the trip and has previously volunteered to be a go-between for the Labour government and the White House.
