Lord (Peter) Mandelson will make a return to frontline politics as Britain’s new ambassador to the United States.
The Labour veteran, who was Business Secretary during Gordon Brown’s premiership, will take a key role in Prime minister Sir Keir Starmer’s preparations for Donald Trump’s presidency.
Sir Keir believes Lord Mandelson has the expertise and networking abilities to represent the UK’s interests in what could be a tough round of tariffs ahead of any trade deal with the US.
It is 14 years since Lord Mandelson last held a government post and he is believed to have been chosen ahead of David Miliband, the former foreign secretary, Baroness Amos, a former development secretary, and Baroness Ashton of Upholland, who succeeded Mandelson as European trade commissioner.
There are those who note that Lord Mandelson was one of the architects of New Labour and is the ideal person to lead, not just an improvement in UK-US relations, but a reboot of Sir Kier’s faltering premiership.
Under Tony Blair’s tenure in Downing Street, Lord Mandelson was European commissioner for trade, an added factor in his appointment following Mr Trump’s ultimatum that the UK needed to choose between the US and Europe.
Mr Trump has described Sir Keir as a “very nice guy” but there are clear tensions that the Prime Minister is keen to address from the start of the new presidency. Mr Trump also accused Labour of interfering in the presidential campaign, not least after 100 current and former Labour staffers helped support Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee.
Commenting on the US tensions in a previously issued podcast, Lord Mandelson said: “We have got to navigate our way through this and have, I’m afraid, the best of both worlds. We have got to find a way to have our cake and eat it.”
He added that a new approach was required: “We’ve just got to look forwards to a more 21st-century set of trading arrangements, which are more to do with clicks and portals than goods and mortar.”
Mr Trump has said that he will impose tariffs of up to 20% on all imports when he enters the White House, and up to 60% on imports from China.
The National Institute of Economic and Social Research said it had calculated that the tariffs would halve GDP growth in the UK, amounting to a £21.5 billion hole in Rachel Reeves’s tax and spending plans, and push up inflation by 3 to 4 percentage points.
