Civil service appointments rarely generate much excitement in Westminster. But it’s not every day that Britain’s most senior diplomatic posting comes up for grabs. The Financial Times this week reports that our next man in Washington is going to be national security adviser Sir Tim Barrow. The Brexit-era veteran is set to succeed Dame Karen Pierce in the States later this year. One Tory MP praises him as ‘a serious figure’; another describes him as being in ‘very much the old mould of ambassadors – competent but not inspiring.’
Barrow will take up his new post in December or January – a timeline that has not gone down well with Labour. Critics argue that the Foreign Office could have either run the replacement process after the UK election or chosen to extend her tenure slightly, as they did once before. Pierce’s term, which began in March 2020, was extended beyond the usual four years after the Covid-19 pandemic disrupted the start of her tenure.
With a UK general election due within the next eight months, the Opposition are now miffed that they will not get a chance to install their choice in the role. The post is likely to carry even greater weight with the US presidential election in November, where Donald Trump could win a second term in the White House. And Mr S can’t help but wonder if there isn’t a sense in certain Labour quarters that the newly-filled vacancy in Washington is something of a missed opportunity.
After all, past Prime Ministers have never been shy in using the post to reward and punish loyalists and dissidents respectively. Churchill managed to palm off Halifax there in 1940 while Thatcher tried but failed to do the same with Ted Heath nearly 40 years later. Harold Wilson gave his old comrade John Freeman the post in the 1960s, while Jim Callaghan’s son-in-law was gifted the gig in 1977. And Labour is not short of aspirant statesmen who would doubtless relish the palatial splendour of the Ambassador’s house in Washington, which recently enjoyed £119 million worth of renovations.
After a decade living stateside, surely David Miliband would be well-placed for such a role? A way for Starmer to make use of his excellent DC contacts, while ensuring he cannot plot against his leadership in Westminster…
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