Right-wing figures in British politics, including former Prime Ministers Liz Truss and Boris Johnson, are vying for influence over the new US administration. They aim to leverage their connections with President Trump for various agendas, such as trade deals and support for Ukraine in its war against Russia. Meanwhile, Labour leader Keir Starmer's government is seeking to maintain a strong relationship with the US, focusing on economic cooperation. Nigel Farage, a close ally of Trump, is seen as a potential key player in this dynamic.
Right-wing figures jockey to be UK’s Trump whisperer as Keir Starmer is left to watch from afarMeanwhile, senior figures on the right wing of British politics lined up to advertise their presence in Washington, as the jockeying began for claims of influence over the new US administration.
Senior Tories including former prime ministers Liz Truss and Boris Johnson, as well as former home secretaries Priti Patel and Suella Braverman, were all invited to the US capital for the event. Truss, for example, was photographed in Washington in an almost-comically oversized blue coat, white blouse and red Make America Great Again cap, channelling the colours of the US flag. Patel, the only one of the above contenders still involved in front-bench politics as the Conservative party’s shadow foreign secretary, said she hoped the Trump administration would “dust off the plans we had when we were in government for an ambitious trading partnership”. A UK-US trade deal and the swerving of punitive tariffs is the top priority of Starmer’s government in relations with the US. Sources said Johnson, meanwhile, had held a slew of telephone calls with Trump since his election win, in an attempt to sway him towards Ukraine’s side in its war with Russia. The former prime minister sees Britain’s unstinting support for Ukraine as his legacy from his time in Number 10. However, despite the cavalcade of Tories playing for influence with Trump, the only real contender for holding the UK’s “special relationship” with the US president was, the leader of Reform UK who has been a close ally with the US president since before his first victory in 2016.. “I’m a good friend of his. It’s a very private relationship. That’s how I’ll maintain it.” Farage was the only UK politician invited to all three of Trump’s inauguration balls, as he declared to UK media that he could be prime minister before the US president leaves office in four years. A Westminster source, meanwhile, said the advantage Farage had, apart from his loyalty to Trump, was the fact that the US president prefers to pick up the phone to “big personalities”. With the possible exception of Johnson, Farage is the biggest personality in UK politics, viewed from the US. Farage has suggested to British media that he would be prepared to give advice on dealing with Trump to Peter Mandelson, the former Labour minister and heavyweight Blairite whom Starmer has appointed as ambassador to the US, replacing Pierce. Allies of Trump anonymously raised the prospect with British newspapers at the weekend that Trump could refuse to sanction Mandelson’s appointment, as the new administration keeps Labour at arms length. Notably, Mandelson also was not invited to Trump’s Monday ball on the eve of the inauguration. Senior Labour figures told journalists in Westminster, however, that the British government was confident that Mandelson’s past as a former European Union trade commissioner would help him smooth the way for the economic deals with Trump that Starmer so badly covets.Right-wing figures jockey to be UK’s Trump whisperer as Keir Starmer is left to watch from afarBird flu cases in Northern Ireland spur setting up of prevention zoneAids activist Bernárd Lynch now has ‘permission to drive sheep over London Bridge’ as he receives Freedom of the City‘Nobody took any responsibility whatsoever’: Widow had to pay €70,000 to fix wall damaged by river ‘The phone would ring and it would be Mike Scott from the Waterboys or Bono from U2. Everyone wanted to talk to my father’ Trump inauguration as it happened: ‘We will be the envy of every nation,’ Donald Trump says as he becomes 47th US presidentTrump inauguration as it happened: ‘We will be the envy of every nation,’ Donald Trump says as he becomes 47th US presidentCork dog breeder warned by judge that he may face jail over his neglect of dogs and pups at his home
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