Starmer Taps Mandelson as UK Envoy to Trump’s Washington
(Bloomberg) -- Prime Minister Keir Starmer is set to appoint Peter Mandelson, a veteran Labour Party figure and trade specialist, as the UK’s ambassador to the US, in an effort to spare Britain from being hit by tariffs by Donald Trump.
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Mandelson, who was the UK’s business secretary and president of the Board of Trade during Gordon Brown’s premiership, is Starmer’s choice for the role, according to people familiar with the matter who spoke on condition of anonymity while discussing an appointment that hasn’t been announced. Mandelson was also the European commissioner for trade from 2004 to 2008.
Downing Street declined to comment. Mandelson was selected because of his expertise on trade, one of the people said. The Times first reported the story. He is expected to take up the post next month.
The new envoy’s first task will be mending the relationship between Starmer and Trump, which had a difficult start after Trump accused Labour activists of interfering in the US election by campaigning for Kamala Harris, his Democratic opponent. Trump ally Elon Musk has also been a regular critic of Starmer on his social media platform X.
Mandelson is a long-standing ally of the premier and acted as an informal adviser before Labour’s July election win. He is also close to Foreign Secretary David Lammy and Starmer’s chief of staff, Morgan McSweeney, who met with senior members of the incoming Trump administration this month in a bid to deepen relations before his inauguration.
Mandelson’s chief goal will be to insulate the UK from potential tariffs threatened by Trump, one of the people said. He expects to benefit from being able to learn from the failure of trade talks between Britain and the US in Trump’s previous term, and intends to pursue a unified approach to discussions rather than copying the “three-track” negotiation strategy used previously, which sought to separate less contentious areas from tariffs and market access, ultimately ending without agreement, the person said.
The UK’s main priorities would be tariff liberalization, regulatory standards, mobility and securing much-needed investment from US companies and investors, the person added. Starmer was convinced of Mandelson’s credentials in light of his experience handling complex trade agreements while EU commissioner, including the Doha Development Round and the EU-South Korean free trade agreement, the bloc’s first with an Asian country, one of the people said.
Mandelson rose to prominence during Tony Blair’s administrations from 1997, where he was credited with playing a key role in modernizing the Labour Party. He also became embroiled in several controversies and resigned from government roles twice. His reputation as a political operator during that period saw him earn the nickname “the prince of darkness.”
As chairman of the government relations firm Global Counsel, Mandelson has cultivated business relationships in the US that Starmer will hope he can use to attract investment into the UK. His client base at his firm included American companies such as OpenAI and JP Morgan as well as the US Chamber of Commerce, a person familiar with the matter said.
Earlier: Starmer and Trump Hold Phone Call on UK-US Ties, Discuss Ukraine
The incoming ambassador’s views on China will also provoke interest. Mandelson has long been in favor of closer ties with Beijing, a stance that is in alignment with Starmer’s government, but may put him at odds with some in the Trump administration.
He also courted controversy earlier this year when he suggested Starmer should use Nigel Farage, the British right-wing populist leader, as a conduit to the Trump administration. Farage, leader of the Reform UK party, is a friend of the president-elect and this week met Musk and Vice President-elect JD Vance in the US.
Mandelson will be replacing Karen Pierce, the UK’s first female ambassador to the US, who was appointed in 2020 by then-Premier Boris Johnson.
(Updates with details, context throughout.)
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