Lord Peter Mandelson: Britain's unlikely US ambassador

When Lord Peter Mandelson was recently appointed the UK’s next ambassador to the US by Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, it seemed unlikely on a number of levels.

Mandelson’s nomination for what is widely regarded to be the top job in the British diplomatic service was among a slew of appointments Starmer made of senior figures from the Tony Blair and Gordon Brown Labour periods of government. These included Jonathan Powell, Blair’s former chief of staff, as National Security Adviser, and former Labour Defence Secretary George Robertson to oversee a "root and branch" review of the UK’s future defence requirements.

But it was Mandelson’s appointment as the UK’s next Washington ambassador that sparked the most interest, not least because Mandelson had previously used disparaging language to describe US President Donald Trump as being “reckless” and “a bully”.

In an interview with an Italian journalist in 2019, the UK’s ambassadorial appointee described Trump as being “reckless and a danger to the world”. This followed a 2018 interview with the London Evening Standard where he described Trump as “a bully”. He also once described the newly-inaugurated US leader as “little short of a white nationalist and racist”, not the kind of diplomatic language that is normally associated with an ambassadorial appointment.

Furthermore, Mandelson also managed to cause offence to the entire British diplomatic corps by demeaning the office of ambassador at a key embassy such as Washington by claiming the job required little more than fulfilling the role of a hotel manager.

Asked whether he was going to be made ambassador to Washington during the run-up to Christmas last year, he replied: “Oh no, not for me. I’ve no interest in being a hotel manager this late in my life.”

A few days later, Starmer confirmed that the former Cabinet minister and renowned Blair loyalist, who was twice forced to resign from Blair’s government after becoming involved in political scandals, would indeed be the next ambassador in Washington, replacing the current, highly-respected UK ambassador in Washington, Dame Karen Pierce.

Ruffled feathers

Mandelson’s appointment has certainly ruffled a few feathers on the other side of the Atlantic, where one of Trump’s top campaign advisers responded by denouncing Mandelson as “an absolute moron”. In a post on social media, Chris LaCivita said Mandelson “should stay home”. LaCivita, who was a co-campaign manager for Trump's presidential election bid, criticised the British government’s decision saying it was replacing a “professional universally respected ambo (ambassador) with an absolute moron”.

There have also been concerns, both in the UK and the US, about Mandelson’s fitness for the post given his close dealings with China, which has resulted in a dossier on Mandelson’s links to China being passed to the FBI.

Mandelson’s file, put together by the UK Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China, has been handed to the Bureau after being seen by US Senators. Although he has denied any such links, the file is said to detail Mandelson's role as an adviser to the China-based global investment bank CICC, a connection which he did not declare in the House of Lords register, Australian outlet The Nightly revealed.

The file is also reported to contain multiple instances of Chinese Communist Party figures praising or thanking the Labour peer for working with state enterprises, and the Chinese internet also boasts a list of examples of Mandelson visiting China with advisory firm Global Counsel and meeting top-level figures.

In his favour, and in spite of the two resignations, Mandelson does have political experience. He was Trade Secretary and Northern Ireland Secretary under Blair, Business Secretary under Gordon Brown and an EU trade commissioner for four years. His appointment has now been officially approved by the Trump administration, and he has received his formal agreement to receive a new diplomat. He will still need to hand Mr Trump a ‘letter of credence’, but this is seen as a formality, and Foreign Office officials said that barring any unexpected obstacles, Mandelson would be formally confirmed in his role next month.

The prospect of Mandelson taking up his new role in Washington has increased after he made a grovelling apology on Fox News about his previous criticism of Trump: “I made those remarks six years ago in 2019, led rather along this by an Italian journalist... it was a time in Britain, by the way, with very fraught politics and there was high emotion about many things in Britain at that time. I consider my remarks about President Trump as ill-judged and wrong. I think that attitudes towards the president have changed since then.” Acknowledging Trump's “extraordinary” second mandate, he said Trump had won “fresh respect” from him.

Early days

Raised in the London suburb of Hampstead, the 71-year-old Mandelson took an early interest in politics as an activist for the Young Communist League. But after winning a place to study at Oxford University, he transitioned towards the Labour Party. In 1976, his final year, he became chairman of the British Youth Council, a body backed by the United Nations and—according to the Left—the CIA.

After graduation, Mandelson joined Labour as a junior employee, gradually working his way up the ranks until becoming one of Blair’s most influential advisors. Mandelson, Blair, and Brown are credited with creating the new Labour machine that gave the party its 1997 landslide victory. But the way he promoted the New Labour message—through spin, briefings and manipulation —earned him enemies and the nickname "the Prince of Darkness", a reputation that haunts him to this day.

Whether his expertise in the dark arts of media manipulation will help him in his new position in Washington remains to be seen. Having made his grovelling apology to Trump on Fox News, Mandelson will have to manage the Labour government’s relations with the White House, which could prove difficult following a disastrous episode during last year's presidential election campaign.

Almost 100 Labour activists went to the US to campaign for the Democratic candidate Kamala Harris – provoking Trump to accuse Labour of “blatant political interference” and to lodge a formal complaint with the Federal Election Commission. Other senior Labour figures also post some unhelpful historical tweets. The Foreign Secretary David Lammy called Trump “a woman-hating, neo-Nazi sympathising sociopath” and described him as “a tyrant in a toupee”.

On the agenda

Generally, as ambassador, Mandelson will actively manage and maintain diplomatic relations between the UK and the US, engage in political and economic negotiations, promote bilateral cooperation and safeguard the UK’s interests.

More specifically, he will have to deal with the threat of the Trump presidency’s global tariffs on imports to the US, which may have a huge impact on the British economy. He will also have a vital role in crafting a British foreign policy that seeks closer ties to the EU while keeping President Trump on the side.

Read more: Between Trump and the EU, Britain feels increasingly isolated

Mandelson is the first non-career diplomat appointed as ambassador to Washington since Labour Prime Minister Jim Callaghan made his son-in-law, the journalist Peter Jay, ambassador in 1977. He will also be the first openly gay British ambassador to be posted to Washington. Reinaldo Avila da Silva, 52, a Brazilian translator he married in 2023, will be living with him at his official residence.

The UK embassy, a magnificent mansion designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens, which underwent a five-year, £119million refurbishment that was completed in 2023, has become the ultimate symbol of British soft power since it was opened in 1930.

Those who know Lord Mandelson well say that this is the job he has always craved. Invitations to receptions at the embassy have always been highly prized in socially acute Washington, DC. Guests will greet Lord Mandelson with his formal title,e ‘Your Excellency’. He will surely see the new title as a promotion.