David Cameron welcomed Barack Obama’s re-election in the early hours of this morning, tweeting: ‘Warm congratulations to my friend @BarackObama. Look forward to continuing to work together.’ He later released this statement:
‘I would like to congratulate Barack Obama on his re-election. I have really enjoyed working with him over the last few years and I look forward to working with him again over the next four years. There are so many things that we need to do: we need to kick start the world economy and I want to see an EU-US trade deal. Right here in Jordan I am hearing appalling stories about what has happened inside Syria so one of the first things I want to talk to Barack about is how we must do more to try and solve this crisis. Above all, congratulations to Barack. I’ve enjoyed working with him, I think he’s a very successful US president and I look forward to working with him in the future.’
Though the Republicans might seem Cameron’s natural choice of ally, he has bonded well with Obama, whereas Mitt Romney’s visit to London earlier this year was not a resounding success. Rachel Sylvester yesterday highlighted that the sympathy of many Tory politicians and voters lies with Obama rather than Romney: with only 12 per cent of Conservative voters favouring the Republican candidate, Obama is an easier partner for Cameron to sell to the electorate than Romney, who was regarded with suspicion in Britain.
The next few months will really show whether the two men can work together, particularly on foreign policy, with tensions rising between Israel and Iran, and – as Cameron highlighted in his statement this morning – the ongoing situation in Syria.
Comments