New year, new job? Government advertises for new ambassador to US
The government needs to replace Sir Kim Darroch who resigned after a leaked memo revealed he called Donald Trump "inept".
Tuesday 7 January 2020 22:03, UK
If you've ever fancied trying your hand at diplomacy then 2020 could be your year, as the government is looking for a new UK ambassador based in Washington DC.
Following the resignation of Sir Kim Darroch last year, the hunt is on for the next person to represent Britain in the US.
However, the job has so far only been advertised internally in the civil service.
There had been speculation that Boris Johnson might make a political appointment. Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage's name had been floated.
The prime minister's official spokesman said: "The Foreign Office has this afternoon begun the process of recruiting the UK's ambassador to the United States and has published the job advertisement today on the civil service's own jobs portal.
"Ministers believe that the right candidate will be a successful leader with proven experience of working with government on the broad range of issues that our bilateral relationship with the US covers and therefore can be found from within the civil service."
The PM's spokesman could not say when they hope to have the new ambassador in place.
The job has been vacant since Sir Kim left, but additional staff came in to help.
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Sir Kim resigned after his memos were leaked, in which he called the US president "incompetent", "inept" and "insecure".
It prompted a row with Donald Trump, who fired back saying that Sir Kim was "wacky", "very stupid" and a "pompous fool".
Sir Kim resigned from the role in July, saying the White House's refusal to work with him made his position untenable.