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Nigel Farage and right-wing Tories have flown into Washington DC for Donald Trump’s inauguration – but the British government will largely be watching from afar.
With the Reform UK leader, shadow foreign secretary Priti Patel and ex-home secretary Suella Braverman among the Trump enthusiasts in the US for the former president’s return, outgoing US ambassador Dame Karen Pierce is the UK’s only official representative.
And, with questions swirling around whether he will be accepted to replace Dame Karen as Britain’s ambassador to the US, Peter Mandelson will be nowhere to be seen at the ceremony.
Lord Mandelson was picked as Sir Keir Starmer’s ambassador to the US because of his role as a former business secretary and EU commissioner for trade. It is a sign of the prime minister’s desire to finally secure a long sought after trade deal with the incoming president.
But as celebrations ramped up in DC ahead of Monday’s main event, it was noted Lord Mandelson did not attend a party hosted by Mr Farage – a key opportunity for him to build bridges with Mr Trump’s top team. It is believed he was not invited to the ceremony.
And that came as sources close to Mr Trump told The Independent the president-elect is considering rejecting Lord Mandelson’s nomination in a move that would be a major blow to Sir Keir.
By contrast, Mr Farage was asked by members of Mr Trump’s team to speak at events around the inauguration and hosted a glitzy champagne-fuelled party for the incoming president.
Ahead of the inauguration, he was proclaimed “the next prime minister of Great Britain” at the party which was a coming together of top Maga conservatives with Reform UK, Brexiteers and top Tories.
Representing Kemi Badenoch’s Conservatives, shadow foreign secretary Ms Patel is attending the inauguration, while Labour has not sent a member of Sir Keir’s government to the event.
She said it is a privilege to be in attendance at the event, highlighting the “decades-long relationship” between the Conservatives and the Republican Party.
The relationship is likely to become strained during Mr Trump’s second term, with the president having been a long-standing ally of Mr Farage. After cold weather led Mr Trump to move the swearing-in ceremony behind closed doors, it is likely she and other UK visitors will be forced to watch the event on TV.
Boris Johnson is also attending the ceremony, though it is not known whether he will be one of 600 able to watch Mr Trump sworn in indoors.
Another former prime minister in DC for the celebrations is Ms Truss, though she will also not be among the 600 sat inside for the swearing-in ceremony.
The former MP, who lost her seat in July’s general election, posted pictures of herself posing in a Maga hat after arriving in the US last week.
She said on Friday that Mr Trump’s second term “can’t come soon enough” and that “the West needs it”.
Former home secretary Suella Braverman said the incoming president would oversee “a new era of security, prosperity and hope” as she arrived in the US for the inauguration.
And Ms Braverman said, despite wet and cloudy weather, that there was a “buzz of hope and optimism in the air” in the city.
As British right-wingers increasingly try to build closer ties to Mr Trump and his team, she heaped praise on his anti-immigration and anti-woke policies and said they would also be needed in the UK.
Actor Laurence Fox, who founded the right-wing populist party Reclaim, was on the same plane to Washington as Ms Braverman, which the former home secretary insisted was a coincidence.
He has been attending rallies ahead of the inauguration, declaring on social media that “America is back”.
Breaking with tradition, Mr Trump has also invited several foreign leaders to his inauguration ceremony, including Italian PM Giorgia Meloni.
The anti-immigration Italian leader has been strengthening her ties to the US leader and her attendance on Monday will put her on course to become his main ally in Europe.
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