LONDON: Labour’s David Lammy has been named Britain’s new foreign secretary, pledging to restore ties with the European Union and press for a ceasefire in Gaza, while also seeking to build ties with Donald Trump’s Republican Party.
The centre-left Labour Party won a landslide victory in Thursday’s general election, ending 14 years of Conservative rule and promising to bring change to Britain.
While the initial six priorities promised in the election manifesto focused on domestic issues, Lammy has a long list of international issues on his plate.
The Labour Party said long-term peace and security in the Middle East would be an immediate goal. It pledged to recognise a Palestinian state as part of a renewed peace process that would lead to a two-state solution.
Lammy, 51, traveled extensively before the election, especially to the United States, where he sought to build relationships with Republicans. He once wrote in Time magazine that Trump was a “woman-hating, neo-Nazi sociopath.”
He met with Republican Party figures who were seen as candidates for Trump’s Cabinet positions, including Mike Pompeo.
Lammy maintains close ties with leading Democrats and is a close friend of former President Barack Obama, also a Harvard Law School graduate.
A POPULAR CASE
In a speech during a visit to the country in May, Lammy said Labour would always work with the United States, “whatever the weather, whatever the winner”, and that he would seek to find “common cause” with Trump.
“I don’t think he’s saying the U.S. should abandon Europe. He wants Europeans to do more to ensure a better-defended Europe,” he said.
“Were his words shocking while he was in office? Yes, they were. Would we use them? No. But U.S. defense spending in Europe actually increased under President Trump, as did defense spending in the broader alliance during his term.”
Lammy, the son of Guyanese immigrants, represents a constituency in the heart of London and has devoted much of his political career to campaigning for social and racial justice.
He backed Britain to remain in the European Union in the 2016 referendum. While Labour has promised to keep the UK out of the bloc, it wants to reset relations and seek to deepen ties, including through a new security pact between the UK and the EU.
Lammy has previously described Marine Le Pen, a leading figure in France’s far-right National Rally (NR), as xenophobic and sinister. Polls show her party is on track to win a majority of seats in France’s parliamentary elections, but falls short of an outright majority.
“France is one of Britain’s closest allies and we will work with whoever is elected. This is a democracy and it is up to the French people to decide who governs them,” Lammy told reporters earlier this week. “We will wait and see what happens in the second round on July 7.”
FIRST FEMALE CHANCELLOR
Rachel Reeves became Britain’s first female Chancellor of the Exchequer on Friday, and the former junior chess champion’s first move will be to try to boost economic growth without sacrificing the party’s new image as fiscally responsible.
A former Bank of England economist, Reeves, 45, faces the challenge of repairing relations with the business community that were strained under left-wing former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, as well as convincing voters that the party can be trusted with their money.
Elected in 2021 as Labour’s finance chief after a rocky start to new prime minister Keir Starmer’s term, she has become synonymous with his approach of prioritising pragmatism over ideology and standing up to those on the left who advocate a looser fiscal approach.
After Labour’s landslide election victory was confirmed on Friday, it will now need to tackle a difficult fiscal situation and quickly boost economic growth if the promised boost in investment is to be achieved without raising taxes.
She said it was “the honour of my life” and “an historic responsibility” to become the first woman appointed to the position of Chancellor of the Exchequer, as Britain’s top economic and financial policymaker is called.
“We have waited a long time for a chance to serve our country. Now we have a credible plan to deliver the change the country needs. Growing our economy is at the heart of that,” Reeves told reporters on the sidelines of the party’s manifesto launch in Manchester.
“The opportunity to become the first female Chancellor of the Exchequer – that would give me enormous pride, but also enormous responsibility: to pass on to our daughters and granddaughters a fairer society. That is what I intend to do.”
Yvette Cooper becomes Home Secretary, known as the Interior Secretary, overseeing internal security and the police.
Ed Miliband, who is inaugurating as Minister for Energy Security and Net Zero Emissions, led Labour into the 2015 election, which the party unexpectedly lost by a large majority, leading to his resignation.
He has since focused his political career on environmental and climate issues.
Miliband will play a key role in delivering Labour’s plan to make the UK a “clean energy superpower” by creating a publicly owned energy company that will have the power to invest in new green projects alongside the private sector.
Angela Rayner, whom Starmer has appointed as his deputy prime minister, will also serve as equal opportunities, housing and communities secretary.
*From Reuters, AFP and AP