François Picard is happy to welcome Tim Bale, Professor of Politics at Queen Mary University of London. According to Professor Bale, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer seems to have unwittingly misled parliament, as a consequence of not being not being “apprised” of Peter Mandelson’s failed vetting.
While accountability stays thus far elusive, Starmer’s appointment of Mandelson as British ambassador to the US was extensively seen as a political danger taken beneath strain, our visitor notes.
Indeed, though the UK already had an envoy in Washington – the extensively revered Karen Pierce – the selection of Mandelson to interchange her mirrored a strategic gamble formed by nervousness over the UK’s relationship with the US beneath Donald Trump, Professor Bale explains.
https://www.france24.com/en/tv-shows/spotlight/20260420-starmer-s-mandelson-gamble-did-political-firepower-trump-diplomacy-to-appease-washington