Why is Labour so ‘angry’ about our next man in Washington?

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.