Christian Turner, the UK’s new ambassador to the United States, has privately described Prime Minister Keir Starmer as having been “on the ropes” over the Peter Mandelson scandal and said Israel, not Britain, has a “special relationship” with the White House. The remarks, made to a group of UK students in February, were reported by the Financial Times and have caused embarrassment for Downing Street.
Turner, who replaced Mandelson as ambassador in February, told students it was “extraordinary” that the Epstein scandal had not affected anyone in the US, while it had “brought down” Mandelson and “potentially the prime minister”. He said Starmer’s future had looked “quite touch and go” and that he was a “stubborn guy” unlikely to quit voluntarily, adding that the May elections would be a key test for his leadership.
On the “special relationship” between the UK and US, Turner described it as “quite nostalgic, quite backwards-looking” and said Israel probably had a stronger claim to that status. A Foreign Office spokesperson said the comments were private and informal, and not a reflection of government policy. Downing Street declined to comment.
Turner, a career diplomat, was appointed after Mandelson’s sacking for misleading Starmer over his friendship with the late financier Jeffrey Epstein. He previously served as ambassador to the UN and as political director at the Foreign Office.
