The UK Government is preparing to announce that National Security Adviser Sir Tim Barrow will become the next ambassador of the country in the USA, which caused a reaction from Labor that they may cancel the appointment if they win the general election, reported the "Financial Times", quoted by BNR.
An announcement that Barrow will take over from current ambassador Karen Pearce is expected to be made as early as this week. However, he is not expected to take office until December this year or January 2025, after the UK general election and the US presidential election.
The plan sparked anger in the opposition Labor Party, where they insisted the next UK government should make the appointment of Britain's top diplomatic post. "By needlessly rushing through vital diplomatic appointments so close to elections in both the UK and the US, the Tories are once again putting party interests ahead of national ones,'' a Labor spokesman said.
Labour, which leads the Conservatives by 20 points in opinion polls, could reverse the decision and field its preferred candidate in Washington if its leader Keir Starmer enters Downing Street.
Tim Barrow has had a rich career. He currently leads the UK's G7 and G20 teams. Barrow previously served in Moscow and was appointed UK ambassador to the EU in 2017 after Britons voted to leave the bloc in the EU referendum a year earlier.