Downing Street has rejected suggestions that Lord Mandelson becoming the UK’s ambassador to the US will cause more problems than benefits for the UK after he was insulted by a Donald Trump adviser.
Number 10 defended the Labour grandee as a “significant asset” to the transatlantic relationship after Chris LaCivita, an architect of the president-elect’s 2024 campaign, called him an “absolute moron”.
Asked whether the remark indicated that his appointment would be more problematic than beneficial for the UK, Sir Keir Starmer’s official spokesman said: “No… his appointment shows just how seriously we’re taking this relationship.
“He has got extensive foreign policy and economic policy expertise, particularly in the crucial issues of trade, business links. He’s got experience at the highest levels of government and it will be a significant asset in the UK’s relationship with the United States.”
Labour peer Lord Mandelson has indicated he believes Reform UK leader Nigel Farage, a friend of Mr Trump, could serve as a link between the British Government and the Republican president-elect.
Asked whether the Prime Minister would like Lord Mandelson to work with Mr Farage in relation to the new White House administration, the spokesman said Sir Keir had “already started to begin to build a relationship with president-elect Trump”.
The two leaders had a “good phone call” last week as well as a two-hour dinner in New York in September, the spokesman said.
Lord Mandelson, who will take up the role in early 2025, said it was “a great honour to serve the country in this way” after the appointment was confirmed.
His trade experience is seen as a strength amid concerns over what the second Trump presidency could mean for the UK, with the Republican politician having pledged to introduce wide-ranging tariffs.
However, the Labour grandee’s past remarks about Mr Trump – who he once described as “little short of a white nationalist and racist” – may yet plague attempts to foster close US-UK relations.
Mr LaCivita, a senior adviser to Mr Trump’s 2024 election campaign, has already hit back at the Labour peer after his words emerged, describing Lord Mandelson as an “absolute moron”.
The peer was one of the architects of New Labour, helping to restore the party to power in the 1990s.
He served as trade secretary and Northern Ireland secretary under Tony Blair but stood down as an MP in 2004 to become a European Commissioner.
He returned to government in 2008 when Mr Brown awarded him a peerage and appointed him business secretary.
More recently, Lord Mandelson stood to be the next chancellor of Oxford University but lost out to former Conservative leader Lord Hague.
