Tony Blair’s former chief of staff appointed PM’s national security adviser

Keir Starmer said Jonathan Powell, above, had ‘devoted his career to protecting the interests of the country’. Photograph: Murdo Macleod/The Guardian

Jonathan Powell, the former chief of staff to Tony Blair, has been appointed as Keir Starmer’s national security adviser in a further sign that leading figures from the New Labour era are returning to the government.

The veteran former diplomat, who played a significant role in the Northern Ireland peace deal struck in 1998 and served Blair for a decade, will be responsible for advising on the UK’s approach to the war in Ukraine and the international implications of Donald Trump’s presidency.