As the UK prepares for a new ambassador to the US, Lord Mandelson is expected to be named to the position. The highly experienced politician, an architect of New Labour , helped advise Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer in the run-up to the 2024 election. Lord Mandelson will replace Dame Karen Pierce, who is due to complete her term in Washington DC in early 2025.
During the 2024 election, Lord Mandelson hosted the How To Win An Election podcast for the Times while also serving as the trustee of the Design Museum and chancellor of Manchester Metropolitan University. Although his name was linked to the chancellorship of the University of Oxford, where he once studied, the position ultimately went to former Conservative leader Lord William Hague.
One of Lord Mandelson’s former colleagues has called him a “very articulate, highly intelligent, extremely experienced operator,” but warned that the position would see him dealing with “all sorts of issues that will be contentious and difficult,” including climate change, relations with China, and the situation in the Middle East.
Lord Mandelson has said that nobody has actually spoken to him about the ambassador post, but he is “more in favour of a new relationship rather than a special one” with the US. He also stated that he would be “very interested indeed in giving advice about trade to whoever is appointed.”
The timing of the appointment is notable as it comes ahead of the inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump on January 20th. President-elect Trump has pledged to impose wide-ranging tariffs on his first day in office, which experts say could cost the UK £22bn. Meanwhile, Sir Keir Starmer has called for the UK to avoid tariffs, making it clear he wants to improve trade with Washington
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