UK Ambassador to US Calls Starmer 'On The Ropes', Questions 'Special Relationship'

The UK’s new ambassador to the US, Christian Turner, has privately described Keir Starmer as having been “on the ropes” over the Peter Mandelson scandal and suggested that it is Israel, rather than Britain, that holds a “special relationship” with the White House.

Turner, who assumed office in February, made these remarks privately to a group of UK students visiting the US in the same month he was appointed. The comments have emerged in the same week that the King is conducting his state visit under President Donald Trump, who has previously referred to Mandelson as a “really bad pick”.

Peter Mandelson was dismissed by the prime minister last year for misleading him regarding the extent of his friendship with the late financier and convicted child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

According to the Financial Times, Turner, 53, told the students it was “extraordinary” that the Epstein scandal had “not touched anybody” in the US, while it had “brought down” Mandelson and “potentially the prime minister”.

He stated that Starmer had at one point been “pretty clearly on the ropes” and his future had appeared “quite touch and go” due to the scandal’s fallout. Turner described Starmer as a “stubborn guy” unlikely to resign voluntarily. “The moment I would look to is the May elections,” Turner said.

“If Labour does very badly … I suspect the party will be able to go over that threshold and remove him – seems to me to be the conventional thinking.”

He added: “If they do OK, he might carry on going … that’s just for me as a citizen speculating because I have to serve whomever is there.”

Regarding the “special relationship,” Turner commented that it was “quite nostalgic, it’s quite backwards-looking and it has a lot of baggage about it”.

He concluded: “I think there is probably one country that has a special relationship with the United States – and that is probably Israel.”

Following the publication of these remarks on Tuesday, a Foreign Office spokesperson stated: “These were private, informal comments made to a group of UK sixth-form students visiting the US in early February. They are certainly not any reflection of the UK government’s position.”

A Whitehall source indicated that the discussion was informal, centered on student questions about diplomacy and current political issues, and was never intended as an official statement of government policy.

Downing Street offered no immediate comment on Turner’s remarks, which were notably candid for a diplomat.

Turner, a career civil servant and diplomat, was appointed as a seemingly safe choice following the politically motivated appointment of Mandelson. He was selected over Varun Chandra, Starmer’s business adviser, who subsequently took on an expanded role in Downing Street, and Nigel Casey, the ambassador to Russia.

Chandra was initially considered the frontrunner for the high-profile position, but Olly Robbins, formerly the most senior civil servant at the Foreign Office, is understood to have advocated against another political appointment.

Robbins was dismissed by the prime minister earlier this month for failing to inform him that Mandelson had not passed security vetting. Robbins, however, maintains that implementing mitigations was standard procedure and that the vetting process was not a simple pass or fail test.

At the time of Turner’s appointment, the prime minister expressed delight, stating: “I’m delighted that Christian Turner has been appointed to be British ambassador to the United States of America.

“The United Kingdom and United States have a very special relationship, and Christian’s extensive experience as an outstanding diplomat will support this uniquely close bond and ensure it continues to flourish.

“I warmly congratulate him as he starts his work to further build our strong economic and security ties and deliver for the British people.”

Turner previously served as ambassador to the UN and was political director at the Foreign Office. He had cultivated a close relationship with the new Labour administration before commencing his UN role in New York.