Peter Mandelson appointed as UK Ambassador to Washington

Lord Peter Mandelson was appointed Britain’s ambassador to Washington on Friday, on a mission to speak with Donald Trump on Fox News and ward off the threat of US tariffs.

The appointment ends weeks of hesitation by Sir Keir Starmer over whether to send political heavyweights to deal with the incoming administration.

Some within the British Foreign Office urged the Prime Minister to remain with US Ambassador Karen Pierce, known as the “Trump whisperer.”

However, Starmer’s allies say he ultimately believed the case was overwhelming to send a veteran politician and senior figure to Washington, not least because of Mandelson’s experience on trade issues.

“It wasn’t a slam dunk,” said one person close to the operation. “The Prime Minister took his time. There were some in the system who wanted Karen to continue. “This was another option.”

Mandelson, who was a minister under Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, is an astute media campaigner and politician, dating back to his days as Labor’s communications chief in the 1980s when he became known as the “Prince of Darkness”.

“It’s a big name,” said another official close to the selection process. “He can do Fox News and other TV channels and that’s a big part of the job. He’s in a league of his own.”

Mandelson, a former EU trade commissioner, was also appointed for his trade experience, with immediate instructions from Starmer to avoid the threat of targeting Britain as part of Trump’s proposed 10-20 per cent tariff on global imports.

One person close to Starmer said: “There is no reason for Britain to be an immediate target.” “Peter’s priority then is to design the kind of digital and service economic agreements for the 21st century, but this will be a medium-term goal.”

Previous talks on a more ambitious free trade agreement between the two countries collapsed over food standards, with the UK banning chlorine-washed chicken and hormone-treated beef.

Starmer briefly considered rival candidates earlier in the year, most notably former Labor foreign secretary David Miliband and former EU foreign policy chief Lady Cathy Ashton, but they were quickly dismissed.

A Downing Street insider said: “For a long time it has been a case of ‘Peter or no Peter.’ “I have never heard any other name mentioned in the ‘or no’ category in recent months. “I really don’t know why it took so long.”

Mandelson is close to Starmer but not in his inner circle. The would-be ambassador was less diplomatic earlier this year when he suggested Starmer “shed a few pounds”.

The 71-year-old has also been a source of controversy over the years. As a minister, he was forced to resign twice from Blair’s government, and his past contacts with sex offender Jeffrey Epstein came to light last year.

Last month, Mandelson suggested to Starmer that he use UK reform leader Nigel Farage as a “beachhead” to build relationships with Trump and Elon Musk. “Did Peter really say that?” asked one of Starmer’s aides at the time.

His seven-year stint as head of the China Center in Great Britain, a non-State Department body, made him a target for conservative China hawks and is unlikely to go unnoticed on Trump’s team.

“His public stance and his private stance towards China has been absolutely terrible,” said Iain Duncan Smith, the former Conservative leader. He noted that Mandelson was the only Labor member to vote against legislation targeting Chinese “genocide” in Xinjiang.

After the vote, Mandelson told colleagues that having a “general definition of genocide in foreign policy formulation” would be too broad and would be difficult to enforce, leaving the government with its hands tied.

Those close to Starmer said the prime minister wanted to wait until Jonathan Powell, the national security adviser, and Morgan McSweeney, the Downing Street chief of staff, met with the Trump team earlier this month before making a final decision.

During this hiatus, some State Department officials pressed the case for Pearce, who took up her post in Washington in 2020, to continue for at least a year. “She has very good relations with the Trump team — and that was a choice,” one government official said.

But this was only seen as a temporary solution. “It couldn’t go on forever,” one diplomat said. She is now vying to become the first permanent secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

While Starmer delayed, a massive coalition of supporters formed behind Mandelson, including David Lammy, the foreign secretary, Powell and McSweeney.

“Kir likes to take his time making these decisions,” one government official admitted. He did the same with the selection of a new Cabinet Secretary and National Security Advisor. But in the end, Peter’s case was clear.”

Starmer agreed that having a big name and political insider would help open doors with Team Trump. “They will like the fact that Peter has a reputation for cruelty,” said one State Department insider.

Mandelson’s belief that Britain can “have its cake and eat it” by simultaneously promoting good trading relations with Washington, Brussels and Beijing is entirely consistent with the view Starmer set out in his foreign policy speech at the Guildhall earlier this month.

“Peter will bring unparalleled experience to this role and take our partnership (with the US) from strength to strength,” Starmer said on Friday. “It’s great to welcome Peter back to the team,” Lammy said.

“It is a great honor to serve the country in this way,” said Mandelson, co-founder of Global Counsel Advisory Group. He has told friends he will put his business interests “in cold storage” while in his new job.

Lord Kim Darroch, the UK ambassador to Washington during Trump’s first presidency, said most diplomats would make the case for including a political appointee in the Edwin Lutyens-designed ambassador’s residence at 3100 Massachusetts Avenue.

“These are particularly turbulent and fragile times,” he told the Financial Times. “It’s not just about Trump II, it’s about Ukraine, China and NATO. In these circumstances, it’s good to have someone who can literally answer the phone to the prime minister.”

For Mandelson, it was a good end to the year, after his disappointment last month after being beaten by Lord William Hague for the chancellorship of Oxford University.

On Monday he was in hospital for surgery for a lower aortic aneurysm, which his friends say was “completely successful.” He is expected to begin his new position in Washington in early 2025.