King Charles III’s state banquet hosting US President Donald Trump on Wednesday will have one glaring omission: a British ambassador to Washington.
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer has yet to fill the most prestigious posting at the top of the British diplomatic service, as he continues to deal with the departure under a cloud of Peter Mandelson last week. Taking Mandelson’s place at the feast in Windsor Castle will be Charge d’Affaires James Roscoe, who’s serving as interim envoy while a replacement is recruited.
The absence of a formally appointed ambassador highlights the challenge the premier faces in filling the post. The government is split between opting for another political appointment or re-instating a career diplomat, according to people familiar with the matter who requested anonymity discussing internal thinking.
Trump would welcome a return for Karen Pierce, a top British diplomat and Mandelson’s predecessor whose current posting covers the Western Balkans, US officials said. Pierce retains strong relationships with Trump and his team, they said.
It would be unusual for a US president to lobby a British premier publicly about an ambassadorial appointment, though Trump has in the past eschewed diplomatic niceties — advocating for Nigel Farage to take the post during his first term of office and criticizing the then British envoy, Kim Darroch, in 2019. But Pierce, who held the post between March 2020 and February 2025, has long been liked by officials close to Trump and would be welcomed back into the role, according to the people.
Some in the UK government believe that despite her experience, if Starmer re-appointed Pierce, he would be conceding he was wrong to have replaced her in the first place, a reversal just at a time when his judgment is already being questioned. It would also be unusual within the Foreign Office to have someone return to such a plum posting.
Mandelson was fired last week over his friendship with convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein. Though much of their relationship had been public, Starmer’s decision to oust him was made after Bloomberg published a cache of emails between Mandelson and Epstein which shed new light on the depth of their relationship, even after the financier was first convicted.
Other long-standing diplomats who have been tipped for the role include Lindsay Croisdale-Appleby, who is due to conclude his role as EU ambassador soon — having been in post since 2021, former national security adviser Mark Sedwill and departing MI6 chief Richard Moore.
Political appointments could include former Foreign Secretary David Miliband, who now runs the International Rescue Committee, as well as former EU trade commissioner and Labour peer Catherine Ashton. Although former Conservative Chancellor George Osborne was widely reported to have been in the running last year and is friends with vice-president JD Vance, he would be even more unlikely this time because it would go down badly with Starmer’s Labour Party.
Both outgoing and incoming ambassadors to the United Nations, Barbara Woodward and Christian Turner, have also been touted for the ambassador role but they have jobs lined up. Woodward is due to become Starmer’s new deputy national security adviser later this year, Bloomberg reported last month.
Holding strong relations with the current US administration is key but not necessary: Mandelson was appointed despite having previously described Trump as “a danger to the world” and “little short of a white nationalist” during the president’s first term. Though Trump and members of his team never grew to trust him, Mandelson was integral to the UK’s signing of a trade agreement which meant it avoided the more severe tariffs meted out on other US allies.
The next ambassador will be tasked with reviving talks to eliminate the 25% tariff on British steel, which were shelved this week, as well as continuing to press Trump to offer more support to Ukraine. They must also smooth over tensions between the two administrations over their differing approaches to Israel — with the UK due to recognize Palestine this month — as well as the Chinese government, with which British ministers are seeking to revive trade talks.
With assistance from Alex Wickham.
This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.
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