Starmer’s business adviser is ‘frontrunner’ to be US ambassador
Keir Starmer’s business adviser is a frontrunner to replace Peter Mandelson as the UK’s ambassador to the US, according to reports.
Varun Chandra, a former venture capital executive who has had to curry favour with business leaders and investors in a difficult year for the UK economy, is being considered for the important diplomatic role which has not been filled by a permanent successor, The Sun has reported.
Chandra has reportedly built a close relationship with Donald Trump’s commerce secretary Howard Lutnick, who was charged with explaining the terms of the UK’s trade deal in May when it was announced.
The business adviser has also won over several top chiefs both at home and across the pond, with his expertise in financial services and venture capital boosting his economic credentials.
The current ambassador to the US is James Roscoe, who was the deputy under Mandelson before the Labour grandee was dismissed over new details surrounding his relationship with the paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.
New ambassador’s difficult brief
Ambassadorial roles tend to be filled by career diplomats and civil servants. Several figures including former cabinet secretary Lord Mark Sedwill, outgoing MI6 chief Richard Moore and Karen Pierce, who was ambassador in Washington DC before Mandelson, have reportedly also been considered as options for the role.
Given his ministerial experience under Tony Blair and close affiliations to the Labour Party, the political appointment of Mandelson was seen as an exception to the unwritten rule.
The appointment of Chandra could be controversial given the recent downfall of Mandelson.
Before arriving in Downing Street, Chandra headed up the venture capital firm Hakluyt Capital. He previoulsy held a role on a Tony Blair-affiliated advisory group and worked at the collapsed investment bank Lehman Brothers.
The next permanent ambassador’s brief could be difficult given Trump’s recent moves to ramp up tariff threats against pharmaceutical products and the world’s second biggest economy, China.
The next permanent ambassador’s brief could be difficult given Trump’s recent moves to ramp up tariff threats against pharmaceutical products and the world’s second biggest economy, China.
The UK was also promised zero tariffs on steel but the industry currently faces 25 per cent tariffs when goods are imported into the US.
While the tariff rate on steel is half that faced by other countries when trading with the US, steel bosses are still holding out for an improved deal after the European Union – the UK’s largest trading partner – hiked its own steel tariffs due to fears of dumping.
But trade is only a fragment of the work facing the next ambassador.
Resolutions to conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East will likely be a key part of ambassadorial work, while the UK envoy will also have to curry favour with the Trump administration, whose policies and assertions are often unpredictable and erratic.