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When Labour lost the 2010 election, rising star Ed Miliband was asked whether Peter Mandelson, who had just published a headline-grabbing autobiography, could play a role in the party’s future. “All of us,” Miliband drily replied, “believe in dignity in retirement.” Mandelson winced and smiled at that quip, he later wrote. But ignored the advice. Fifteen years later, at the age of 71, the political veteran who helped mastermind Labour’s renewal in the 1980s and 1990s, and was twice forced to resign from Tony Blair’s government, has staged yet another comeback.
It’s a whirlwind, admits a member of his new team in Washington. Because he’s a whirlwind kind of guy. The first political appointee to the role of UK ambassador to the US in 50 years arrived in DC with a lot on his plate. Even by American standards.
But why did Sir Keir Starmer recruit him, what explains Mandelson’s hunger for the job, and how does he plan to charm Team Trump?
Peter is supremely political, explains a Downing Street source. And this is a very political White House. He is a brilliant operator. Lord Mandelson has already moved into the ambassador’s vast official residence, recently refurbished at a cost of £118.8m.
His new life will involve more than Congressional meetings and cocktail parties. He now oversees 800 UK staff in the country many of whom are seconded to the Pentagon and defence bases. At the embassy, beneath a Warhol portrait of the late Queen, Mandelson has already hosted lunch for General Keith Kellogg, President Trump’s envoy to Ukraine and Russia.
This was merely a warm-up for the real challenge later this month: accompanying Keir Starmer to the Oval Office to meet President Trump. The new president may be erratic and impulsive yet No 10 officials are determined the two leaders will develop a strong relationship despite their differing personalities. The PM will be asking Peter: ‘How on earth do I handle this crazy guy?’ Former colleagues say.
As an ambassador in the court of Donald Trump you need someone who can tickle him under his chin. Peter will be the absolute fixer and bridge builder. Unlike the imminent turnover of leaders in continental Europe, Mandelson’s long friendship with Emmanuel Macron is no longer so helpful, Starmer and Trump are likely to be in office and working together for the next four years. One official says part of the UK’s pitch is about emphasising that both men are winners: ‘Our message to him is we won big in July. You won big in November. Let’s do business together.’
Mandelson has regularly provided advice to Keir Starmer in recent years and acted as an unofficial mentor to the PM’s chief of staff Morgan McSweeney and director of communications Matthew Doyle. These relationships suggest Downing Street and the US embassy will have an unusually close and constant level of contact. In an administration where billionaire businessmen have unprecedented influence, Peter Mandelson’s contacts from his time as EU trade commissioner, UK business secretary, and via his international lobbying firm Global Counsel is already being deployed. He’s essentially been a businessman for the last 15 years.
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