Lord Peter Mandelson was confirmed on Friday as Britain’s ambassador to Washington, with a mission to speak to Donald Trump by way of Fox Information and push back the specter of US tariffs.
The appointment ends weeks of indecision by Sir Keir Starmer over whether or not to ship the political heavyweight to interact with the incoming administration.
Some inside Britain’s International Workplace had urged the prime minister to stay with US ambassador Dame Karen Pierce, often called “the Trump whisperer”.
Nevertheless, Starmer’s allies say he in the end believed the case was overwhelming for sending a veteran politician and large hitter to Washington, not least given Mandelson’s expertise in commerce points.
“It wasn’t a slam dunk,” mentioned one particular person near the method. “The prime minister took his time. There have been some within the system who needed Karen to hold on. That was another choice.”
Mandelson, a minister beneath Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, is a talented media and political operator, relationship again to his days as Labour’s communications chief within the Nineteen Eighties when he turned often called the “Prince of Darkness”.
“He’s an enormous title,” mentioned one other official near the choice. “He can do Fox Information and the opposite TV channels and that’s an enormous a part of the job. He’s in a league of his personal.”
Mandelson, a former EU commerce commissioner, has additionally been appointed for his commerce experience, with a direct instruction from Starmer to move off the specter of Britain being focused as a part of Trump’s proposed 10-20 per cent tariff on world imports.
“There’s no purpose why Britain needs to be a direct goal,” mentioned one particular person near Starmer. “Peter’s precedence then is to design the type of twenty first century digital and companies financial settlement, however that will be a medium-term goal.”
Earlier talks on a extra formidable free-trade settlement between the 2 nations have damaged down over meals requirements — the UK bans chlorine-washed rooster and hormone-treated beef.
Starmer briefly thought-about rival candidates earlier within the 12 months, notably former Labour overseas secretary David Miliband and former EU overseas coverage chief Woman Cathy Ashton, however they have been shortly discarded.
“For a very long time it has been “Peter or not Peter,” mentioned one Downing Road insider. “I by no means heard another title talked about within the ‘or not’ class over current months. I don’t actually know why it took so lengthy.”
Mandelson is near Starmer however not in his inside circle. The potential ambassador was lower than diplomatic earlier this 12 months when he advised Starmer ought to “shed a number of kilos”.
The 71-year-old has additionally been a magnet for controversy through the years. As a minister he was pressured to resign twice from Blair’s authorities and his previous contact with intercourse offender Jeffrey Epstein emerged final 12 months.
Final month, Mandelson advised Starmer ought to use Reform UK chief Nigel Farage as a “bridgehead” to construct relations with Trump and Elon Musk. “Did Peter actually say that?” requested one Starmer aide on the time.
His seven-year stint as president of the Nice Britain China Centre, a non-departmental International Workplace physique, has made him a goal for Conservative China hawks and is unlikely to go unnoticed within the Trump group.
Iain Duncan Smith, former Tory chief, mentioned: “His public stance and personal place on China has been completely horrible.” He famous Mandelson was the one Labour peer to vote in opposition to laws focusing on Chinese language “genocide” in Xinjiang.
After the vote, Mandelson advised colleagues that having a “basic genocide definition within the formulation of overseas coverage” might be too sweeping and could be troublesome to use, leaving the federal government with its arms tied.
These near Starmer mentioned the prime minister needed to attend till Jonathan Powell, nationwide safety adviser, and Morgan McSweeney, Downing Road chief of workers, had met the Trump group earlier this month earlier than making a closing choice.
Throughout this hiatus, some officers within the International Workplace pressed the case for Pierce, who took up her put up in Washington in 2020, to hold on, no less than for a 12 months. “She has excellent relations with the Trump group — that was an choice,” mentioned one authorities official.
However that was solely seen as a stop-gap resolution. “She couldn’t keep it up ceaselessly,” mentioned one diplomat. She is now in competition to grow to be the primary feminine everlasting secretary on the International Workplace.
Whereas Starmer delayed, a formidable coalition of backers fashioned behind Mandelson, together with David Lammy, overseas secretary, Powell and McSweeney.
“Keir likes to take his time with these choices,” admitted one authorities official. “He did the identical factor with the selection of a brand new cupboard secretary and nationwide safety adviser. However in the long run the case for Peter was clear.”
Starmer accepted that having an enormous title and political operator would assist to open doorways with the Trump group. “They’ll like the truth that Peter has a popularity for ruthlessness,” mentioned one International Workplace insider.
Mandelson’s perception that Britain can “have its cake and eat it” by fostering good commerce relations concurrently with Washington, Brussels and Beijing chimes precisely with Starmer’s personal view that he set out in his overseas coverage speech at Guildhall earlier this month.
Starmer mentioned on Friday: “Peter will convey unrivalled expertise to the position and take our partnership [with the US] from energy to energy.” Lammy mentioned it was “fantastic to welcome Peter again to the group”.
Mandelson, co-founder of the World Counsel advisory group, mentioned: “It’s an important honour to serve the nation on this means.” He has advised buddies that he’ll put his enterprise pursuits “into chilly storage” whereas in his new job.
Lord Kim Darroch, UK ambassador to Washington in the course of the first Trump presidency, mentioned most diplomats would settle for the case for inserting a political appointee into the Edwin Lutyens-designed ambassador’s residence at 3100 Massachusetts Avenue.
He advised the FT: “These are particularly turbulent and fragile instances. It’s not nearly Trump 2 but it surely’s about Ukraine, China and Nato. In these circumstances it’s good to have somebody who can actually choose up the cellphone to the PM.”
For Mandelson it has been a very good finish to the 12 months, following his disappointment final month at being overwhelmed by Lord William Hague for the chancellorship of Oxford college.
On Monday he was in hospital having an operation on an aneurysm within the decrease aorta, which buddies say was “totally profitable”. His new posting in Washington is predicted to begin early in 2025.
