New British PM expected to appoint next UK ambassador to US amid leaked memo row
next UK ambassador to the US is expected to be chosen by the new British prime minister instead of Theresa May amid the US president’s pubic criticism of her over the leak of private memos.
The diplomatic row resulted in the unprecedented resignation of UK ambassador Sir Kim Darroch on Wednesday three days after a newspaper published his secret diplomatic correspondence which called President Donald Trump “incompetent, inept and insecure”.
The leak led to Mr Trump freezing him out of the White House and firing off numerous tweets calling him “wacky, stupid and pompous” and calling outgoing prime minister Mrs May a “fool”.
Officials said that Mr Darroch had hoped to ride out the storm, having received private assurances from American counterparts, but that Mr Trump’s repeated interventions had made his position untenable. The final straw came during a debate for the Conservative Party leadership in which the front-runner Boris Johnson declined to voice support for him.
In her remaining two weeks in office Mrs May has the opportunity to parachute a replacement ambassador into the role, which usually involves a rigorous recruitment process, to thwart her replacement choosing one.
Mr Johnson, who has received the public support of Mr Trump to get the role, came under heavy criticism for failing to support Mr Darroch which critics say left him with no option but to resign.
Foreign Office Minister Alan Duncan said on Thursday that Mr Darroch’s replacement would be appointed in the “proper way”, indicating the process would not be completed by the time Mrs May steps down on July 24.
“The next ambassador will be appointed in the usual way by the prime minister on the foreign secretary’s recommendation with the approval of Her Majesty The Queen,” he told politicians.
British ambassadors are usually professional diplomats rather than political appointees. Filling overseas posts involves a formal civil service process with advertisements, applications and interviews.
Appointments are made by the prime minister on the recommendation of the foreign secretary.
It’s unusual, but not unknown, for non-diplomats to become ambassadors, and some have suggested Mr Johnson as prime minister might appoint someone seen as strongly pro-Brexit and friendly to Mr Trump.
On Wednesday, Mr Duncan had said that his respect for Mr Johnson had “taken a serious nose-dive”.
“Boris Johnson, instead of supporting our ambassador, dived for cover and threw him under a bus,” he said.
Mr Darroch decided to resign for the sake of his family and to allow the British embassy to continue its work
In his resignation letter, he wrote: “The current situation is making it impossible for me to carry out my role as I would like. Although my posting is not due to end until the end of this year, I believe in the current circumstances the responsible course is to allow the appointment of a new ambassador.”