Britain’s next ambassador to the US is set to be decided within days in what will be one of the most important diplomatic decisions of Sir Keir Starmer’s first year in No 10.
The appointment will be key to shaping the UK-US relationship once Donald Trump returns to the White House, with the future of Ukraine, the conflict in the Middle East and trade tariffs among the key areas where the prime minister and the president-elect differ in opinion.
Sir Keir’s attempts to woo Trump have not started well, with many of his top team facing tough questions about disparaging comments made during his first term. Trump’s election campaign team also hit out at the Labour Party, accusing it of attempting to interfere in the election, in a row over UK activists helping Democrats.
Our next man, or woman, in Washington will need all the political and diplomatic nous they can muster. Here we look at the runners and riders.
Peter Mandelson
The former Labour spinner has already staged a series of political comebacks – including as EU trade commissioner and then returning to help Gordon Brown’s beleaguered government as business secretary – and now he is seen as one of the frontrunners to head to Washington.
At the weekend he insisted that “nobody’s asked me” about the job. But he also popped up on Laura Kuenssberg’s Sunday morning BBC programme where he said of the next US president – on defence spending – “Mr Trump is not always wrong”.
As for his thoughts on what the next four years will bring? He said: “Of course... I immediately thought ‘what does this mean for Britain’ and I thought we’re going to be in for a relatively transactional rollercoaster ride, but that we have to decide about how we’re going to influence this presidency, what we’re going to put into it and what we’re going to get back from it.”
David Miliband
Another Labour politician, rather than a career diplomat, his appointment would show Downing Street is wary of Mr Trump’s disdain for bureaucrats.
After standing down as an MP, the former foreign secretary has been president and chief executive officer (CEO) of the International Rescue Committee, based in the US, since 2013. He took that job three years after losing the Labour leadership contest – to his brother Ed, now a minister in Keir Starmer’s cabinet.
However, Mr Miliband is seen as the candidate preferred by Sr Keir’s former chief of staff Sue Gray, who resigned last month.
Cathy Ashton
Made a peer by Tony Blair, she replaced Peter Mandelson as EU trade commissioner. She was then chosen, despite her low profile, for the new post of EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs, dubbed the EU first "foreign minister".
The job, created under the Lisbon Treaty, had the aim of making the EU speak "with one voice" internationally. She reportedly made "quiet diplomacy" her hallmark, but was praised for what she achieved in the role. She is credited with representing the EU in a longstanding beef dispute with the US and with helping broker an agreement with South Korea that removed most tariffs between the two economies.
But she faces the challenge that she is seen as perhaps better suited to the role had Kamala Harris won.
Valerie Amos
A former government minister, UN under-secretary general and one-time British High Commissioner to Australia, Baroness Amos is also tipped to become the UK’s next woman in Washington.
She is reportedly a long-term friend of the millionaire Lord Alli, who has come under scrutiny for his connections to Keir Starmer’s government. He hit the headlines earlier this year when it emerged he had given thousands of pounds in clothing donations to the prime minister, deputy prime minister Angela Rayner and the chancellor Rachel Reeves – as well as getting a pass to No10.
But again, in what could be fatal for her chances of securing the job, she is seen as better suited to a Harris presidency.
Karen Pierce
Could Britain’s next ambassador to Washington be the current one? It is thought Karen Pierce had hoped to have her term extended, perhaps by a year.
She is widely credited with building good links with the Trump campaign, and at the weekend she told CBS’ Sunday morning politics show that “I have always found him and his team very willing to listen to our point of view.”
However, it is thought her term will end soon after Trump enters the White House.
