The UK’s ambassador to Washington, Karen Pearce, will be asked to stay on as Donald Trump comes to power amid a complex reshuffle of UK security and diplomatic posts in the new year.
Pierce has a deep understanding of the Republican Party and is considered the best person to help guide the Labor government during the dangerous transition from the Biden administration to the Trump administration.
Pat McFadden, chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, told Sky News on Thursday: “She is doing a fantastic job at the moment. She has the full confidence of the British government and we hope that she will continue to do the job that she is doing. I It is believed that she will be a very important interlocutor and adviser to the British government during this period of transition.
He added: “I can’t say exactly when her term is going to end. She’s been doing this for a few years, but she’s there now and she’s going to be there for a while and she’s done absolutely everything for our country. Excellent work.
“We look forward to deepening our already deep and successful partnership as we address the challenges of the 21st century,” Pierce posted on X on Wednesday after Trump was declared the winner of the US election.
In 2018, she was appointed Britain’s special envoy to the United Nations in New York, and in 2020 she was appointed ambassador to Washington.
There has been speculation that if Kamala Harris wins, one of three Labor foreign policy experts – Peter Mandelson, David Miliband or Valerie Amos – could be invited to take up the role. A position. But there may now be a review of whether Labor figures are the best people to talk to Trump’s team.
Washington’s appointment is tied to upcoming vacancies for the Foreign Office’s permanent secretary and national security adviser positions, as well as the UK’s ambassador to the United Nations.
Philip Barton has announced his resignation as permanent secretary, with Pierce likely to take up the role, but Matthew Rycroft, former permanent secretary at the Department for International Development and former British ambassador to the United Nations, has also been mentioned and.
Barbara Woodward, the current special envoy to the United Nations and former ambassador to China, is regarded as a strong contender for the position of new national security adviser. The post of cabinet secretary is also vacant.
Lord Manderson is seeking to become Chancellor of Oxford University, but is told he can be a hero at the same time.
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The Foreign Office hopes that Foreign Secretary David Lamy’s past blistering attacks on Trump – a point highlighted by Conservative leader Kemie Badenock on Wednesday – will not affect the so-called special relationship.
But his team highlighted the work he has done to connect with potential Republican foreign policy experts, including a meeting with Vice President-elect Vance in Munich this year and discussions with former national security adviser Robert O’Brien. He has also spoken at the Hudson Institute think tank, emphasizing his Christian roots.
A deeper risk for the UK is getting caught in a tariff war between the EU and the US. Jeremy Shapiro, an expert on U.S.-EU relations at the European Council on Foreign Relations, said that “there are serious cultural differences between Labor and the Trump people.”
“Many European leaders will resort to bilateralism and sycophancy, but I can’t say that will do them any good,” he predicted. He said that in any relationship, the trade deficit between the United States and the other country will be the issue most likely to anger Trump.
