Why party-loving Karen Pierce is key to reviving Starmer's relationship with Trump

Contributing sentiments towards policy:

60% : Find your bookmarks in your Independent Premium section, under my profileThe morning after Donald Trump's election, Britain's top diplomat to the United States posted a photograph of herself wearing a wide-brimmed hat and orange dress, standing next to Trump in the Oval Office -- presumably taken during his first administration.
54% : So well, in fact, that if the rumours turn out to be true, despite her four-year term ending, Sir Keir Starmer will reappoint her as the UK's ambassador to the US - a move that will acknowledge just how adept the 65-year-old has proven in the delicate task of handling Trump.
48% : "On 20 January 2025, when Trump is handed the keys to the White House once more, it looks like it'll be Pierce who will be responsible for ensuring that remains the case.
45% : After Trump survived an assassination attempt at a Pennsylvania rally in July, Pierce impressed Starmer, fresh from being sworn in as the UK's new prime minister, by arranging an introductory phone call between the two men - which in turn led to a two-hour dinner meeting.
44% : It was while Pierce was in that role that Trump described her as "fab" after meeting her.
39% : Basically, Starmer needs Pierce in the interim at least before finding an ambassador who can deal with Trump.
38% : After the fiasco with Darroch, an insider says Pierce "went out of her way to talk to Trump and his team as well as the Republicans more widely.
38% : "Certainly, Farage won't be ambassador, even though Trump suggested him in 2016," says The Independent's political editor, David Maddox.
34% : The Labour Party hadn't got off to the best of starts, after all, with past slights such as David Lammy's tweets calling Trump a neo-Nazi, most of the cabinet signing a petition to block Trump from speaking in parliament and sending 100 or so Labour volunteers to campaign for Harris.
31% : But when Trump won, Starmer needed to reconsider.

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