The stand-off has led to speculation that Keir Starmer, the Labour leader, might even ask for the appointment process to be rerun if he becomes Britain’s next leader.
Asked if the handover was turning out to be unusually eventful, Pierce on Thursday deployed a wry guillotine. “The Foreign Office is very boring about two things and two things only,” she said. “One is that it does not reveal the contents of diplomatic conversations, and we don’t comment on future appointments.”
But she paid tribute to congressional leaders for supporting the passage of $61 billion in U.S. aid to Ukraine. The package, which was part of a wider raft of support for Israel and Taiwan, was signed by Biden this week. “The central message, which is going to give Ukraine a huge psychological boost,” Pierce said, “is that America is behind her, and Congress is behind her, and our will to support Ukraine is undimmed.”
“So, I salute the congressional leadership in the House and in the Senate on both sides … and it’s a collective expression of our determination to push back on President Putin’s ambitions.”
Asked about perceptions in Washington of the volatility in British politics in the last two years — including three prime ministers in the space of three months — the ambassador was diplomatic.
“There was a little bit of a wry smile on the faces of some American politicians when we had that quick turnover of prime ministers, because it’s not what you think of when you think of British politics,” she reflected. “On the contrary, you think of something solid that doesn’t change very much for years. But we’re through all that.”