Overview
- Royal approval has been granted, with the government now seeking U.S. agrément before Christian Turner can take up the post.
- Varun Chandra was dropped from the final shortlist and will remain in Downing Street with an expanded chief business, investment and trade brief, including a U.S. trade envoy role.
- Senior Foreign Office figures mounted a last-minute campaign that helped steer Keir Starmer toward a seasoned mandarin rather than a political pick.
- Turner had been appointed to the UN role but had not assumed it; his résumé includes FCDO Political Director, High Commissioner to Pakistan and Kenya, and earlier service at the British Embassy in Washington.
- The appointment follows Peter Mandelson’s September sacking over his links to Jeffrey Epstein, with pressing work ahead on U.K.–U.S. trade talks, Ukraine diplomacy and relations with President Trump’s administration.