WAITING FOR ANOTHER US ELECTION
An unavoidable fact for Starmer as he embarks on building a relationship with Washington is that he doesn’t know who he will be dealing with for the bulk of his term.
For the first time since 1992, the UK general election took place a mere few months before a presidential election across the Atlantic.
This could stall any significant investment in the transatlantic relationship until American voters have spoken in November.
On the surface, Starmer’s left-leaning Labour Party might welcome a Democratic win in November. Besides not having to deal with a presidential transition, the two parties are more aligned philosophically; and Starmer has expressed his admiration for the presumed Democratic candidate President Joe Biden.
Similarly, David Lammy, the UK government’s likely foreign secretary, has openly disparaged Republican Donald Trump in the past, referring to him as a “woman-hating, neo-Nazi-sympathizing sociopath” and a “profound threat to the international order”.
Yet, the vitality of the relationship between prime minister and president has often hinged more on personalities than mere ideological affinity. While Labour’s Tony Blair and conservative George W Bush worked well together, this was hardly the case for Donald Trump and Theresa May – both of whom led the establishment right-wing parties in their countries.
It remains to be seen how Starmer would fare with either of the presumed US presidential contenders. But he will finally get his chance to test the waters with Biden at the NATO summit, after failing to secure a meeting with the president while leader of the UK opposition. Lammy, for his part, has been steadily nurturing ties with the MAGA-sphere in case of a Trump win.
