The outcome of this week’s general election in the UK could well result in the new government in London adopting a radically different approach to its Middle East policy if, as the polls predict, Labour achieves victory and Left-wing firebrand David Lammy becomes Britain’s next foreign secretary.
During the 14 years the Conservatives have been in power, they have worked hard to sustain constructive relations with key allies in the region, such as maintaining close ties with Israel as well as nurturing Britain’s bond with long-standing Arab allies such as Saudi Arabia.
In addition, successive Conservative governments have, since David Cameron returned the party to government following the 2010 election, taken a hard line on Islamist militant groups such as Hezbollah, Hamas and the Islamic State (IS). British forces were heavily involved in the military campaign to destroy IS's self-styled Caliphate in Syria, while the government has designated both Hezbollah and Hamas as terrorist organisations.
The Conservatives have constantly also taken a hard line on Iran’s nuclear ambitions, regularly criticising the ayatollahs over their uranium enrichment programme, while more recently, British warplanes were involved in military action to thwart Iran’s combined missile and drone strike against Israel in April.
These key pillars of recent British foreign policy towards the Middle East could be about to undergo radical change, though, if Lammy, the current Labour Party spokesman on foreign affairs, succeeds in fulfilling his long-term ambition of becoming Britain’s next foreign secretary as part of a newly-installed Labour government.
Moving into the foreign secretary's iconic oak-panelled office on the third floor of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office overlooking Whitehall and being appointed to one of the four great offices of state in the British government would be a remarkable achievement for a man of Lammy’s humble background.
Humble beginnings
Born in 1972 to Guyanese parents in one of the more deprived districts of London, Lammy was educated in the state school system before winning a place at the University of London, where he read law. Opting for a career as a barrister, Lammy went on to study at Harvard University, where he was the first black Briton to attend Harvard Law School.
