Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailGet our free View from Westminster emailPeter Mandelson has been sacked as Britain’s ambassador to the US following new revelations about his relationship with convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein – meaning Sir Keir Starmer is now scrambling to fill the position. The appointment is at the centre of the UK-US relationship and will help shape interactions between the two administrations in the years to come, with the future of Ukraine, the conflict in the Middle East and trade tariffs among the key areas of discussion. The UK’s next man or woman in Washington will need all the political and diplomatic nous they can muster. Here we look at the runners and riders.James RoscoeJames Roscoe has taken over from Lord Mandelson as interim ambassador while Downing Street begins the process of finding a permanent replacement. While there is not yet any suggestion yet that Mr Roscoe will hold the position permanently, the career diplomat has a strong CV. He is currently the embassy’s chief of mission, a role which sees him take over in the absence of the ambassador. He was previously deputy head of mission at the British Embassy Washington in July 2022.Before moving to Washington, he was the UK ambassador to the UN General Assembly from 2019. Prior to this, from 2016 to 2019 he held the roles of Director for Communication at the Cabinet Office, and subsequently the Department for Exiting the European Union.George Osborne George Osborne is said to have been on Downing Street’s shortlist to be the next UK ambassador to Washington, despite the former Tory chancellor being disliked by many in the Labour Party for his role as the architect of austerity in Britain. Tom Baldwin, in his biography of the prime minister, wrote that senior No 10 aides “invested considerable effort” in unsuccessfully pushing for Mr Osborne to be considered. open image in galleryFormer chancellor George Osborne (Getty Images)Julia LongbottomJulia Longbottom is currently Britain’s ambassador to Japan – a position she has held since 2021. Before her move to Tokyo, she served in the Foreign Office in the coronavirus taskforce. Like James Roscoe, she is a career diplomat who is widely respected in her current role. She played a significant part in negotiations to get the CPTPP agreement over the line, making her well placed to support any further talks with the US on tariffs and trade. However, she could be hampered by Donald Trump’s aversion to career diplomats. open image in galleryJulia Longbottom (Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)David MilibandDavid Miliband, who was a frontrunner in the initial contest when Lord Mandelson was selected, is a veteran Labour politician rather than a career diplomat, meaning his appointment would show Downing Street is wary of Mr Trump’s disdain for bureaucrats. After standing down as an MP, the former foreign secretary has been president and CEO of the International Rescue Committee, based in the US, since 2013. He took that job three years after losing the Labour leadership contest to his brother Ed, now a minister in Keir Starmer’s cabinet.open image in galleryDavid Miliband, pictured with his brother Ed during the 2010 Labour leadership contest (Getty Images)Cathy Ashton Made a peer by Tony Blair, she replaced Peter Mandelson as EU trade commissioner. She was then chosen, despite her low profile, for the new post of EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs, dubbed the EU first “foreign minister”.The job, created under the Lisbon Treaty, had the aim of making the EU speak “with one voice” internationally. She reportedly made “quiet diplomacy” her hallmark, but was praised for what she achieved in the role. She is credited with representing the EU in a longstanding beef dispute with the US and with helping broker an agreement with South Korea that removed most tariffs between the two economies.But she faces the challenge that she is seen as perhaps better suited to the role had Kamala Harris won.
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Who could replace Peter Mandelson as ambassador to the US?
