Lord Peter Mandelson, a former Labor minister and European Commissioner, is set to become Britain's next ambassador to Washington, with an immediate mission to avoid a trade war with Donald Trump.
Mandelson will take up his post next month, according to British government officials, in the latest appointment by Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer of a veteran of the Tony Blair era.
Starmer chose Mandelson as a successor to Ms. Karen Pierce, who has worked in Washington since 2020 and is known as the “Trump whisperer” for her close contacts with the next American president and his team.
Mandelson's trade experience – he was business secretary in Gordon Brown's government and held the EU trade portfolio in Brussels – will be crucial in his new role.
Downing Street is expected to confirm Mandelson's appointment on Friday, and Trump's team, with whom Starmer is trying to quickly foster good relations, has already been notified.
Jonathan Powell, Tony Blair's former chief of staff and now Starmer's national security adviseris among those who urged the prime minister to choose Mandelson, according to informed sources in the government.
Mandelson also had the support of David Lammy, the Foreign Secretary, and Morgan McSwiney, Starmer's chief of staff. Powell and McSweeney He held talks with the Trump team In Florida and Washington earlier this month.
Appointing Mandelson is a risk for Starmer, given his Labor counterpart's ability to attract publicity and controversy.
But Mandelson's supporters said he had extensive international experience, including as EU trade commissioner from 2004 to 2008. He had previously served as a minister in Blair's government.
Trump threatened to impose Global tariff on imports to the United States Mandelson's first task will be to try to persuade the president not to impose a tax on British exports.
Starmer said he “completely rejects” the idea that Britain would be forced to choose between the US or the EU on trade matters. Mandelson also believes better trade terms can be agreed with both.
He told The Times How to win elections podcast earlier this year: “We have to navigate our way through this, and I'm afraid we have the best of both worlds. We have to find a way to have our cake and eat it.”
Mandelson's appointment, first reported by The Times, comes after weeks of deliberations. Starmer felt frustrated, according to those close to him a report The Financial Times reported last month that Lammy was supporting Mandelson's candidacy. “He felt like he was bouncing,” one ally said.
Downing Street insiders were also upset by Mandelson's suggestion that Nigel Farage, the UK reform leader, might be the UK reform leader. A useful “bridge”. For the new Trump administration.
But Starmer eventually decided to use Mandelson's experience and political thought – he first rose to prominence as Labor's communications director in the 1980s – to manage the new relationship between the UK and the US.
Mandelson, recalled by Brown from Brussels in 2008 to help rescue his faltering government, earned the nickname “Prince of Darkness” for his mastery of the political arts.
He takes up the foreign secretary's job in Washington as a political appointee rather than a career diplomat, overtaking former Labor foreign secretary David Miliband, who was also linked to the job.
“Donald Trump will know that Peter comes from the political family of the British government and speaks with the authority of a prime minister,” said one official close to Starmer.
“He is clearly used to doing diplomacy in his old trade job in the EU, but he will have to improve those skills a bit and remember that he is a diplomat, not a minister.” Lammy broke the news to Mandelson last week.
Although Mandelson said Britain could secure better trading terms with the US, UK ministers have serious doubts about whether a full free trade agreement with Washington is possible.
In any such negotiations, the United States will demand that US agricultural products be able to access UK markets. Some, such as chicken dipped in chlorine, are banned in Britain.
David Hennig, a trade expert, said Mandelson could succeed. He added: “Trump is running a medieval court.” “This is the kind of environment in which someone who can keep track of who is in – and who is out – would be very valuable. You can see that the noble Lord is very good at that.”
But Heng said Mandelson and Britain should avoid being drawn into trade talks with the United States, “which could lead to a focus on where we disagree with the United States and angry presidential tweets.”
Mandelson told friends that his new job meant he would have to put his business interests “in cold storage.”
He co-founded Global Counsel, an international consulting firm, but remains involved in public life. He recently failed in his bid to become Chancellor of Oxford University.
Mandelson also has strong ties to China, a part of his CV that he is unlikely to highlight when he is in Washington. Until 2023, he was Honorary Chair of the Great Britain China Centre, a non-departmental public body supported by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office.
There has been speculation in Whitehall that Pierce's stay at the Washington embassy might be extended, given her closeness to the Trump team. She helped arrange an early meeting between Starmer and Trump at Trump Tower in New York in September, and facilitated discussions with the prime minister's staff.
Pearce has been linked to the vacant permanent secretary position at the FCDO in London.
