A colorful pro-Brexit Scottish politician who is said to have once dated pop star Natalie Imbruglia and who has spent well over a decade forging ties with Washington conservatives is among those being considered to be Britain’s next ambassador to the United States.
Liam Fox, 57, Britain’s secretary of state for trade and industry, is a prominent pro-Brexit figure. After the resignation of Kim Darroch over leaked cables describing President Trump as “inept,” the next ambassador will need a deep understanding of British trade and the contacts book to jump start negotiations on a post-Brexit transatlantic deal.
As the government’s most senior trade minister he is front and center of the economic debate about how Britain positions itself after Brexit, following a career shaped by his connections with the U.S. With the chances of a pro-Brexit businessman being chosen receding amid recriminations over who leaked the Darroch cables, Fox might emerge as a compromise choice for Boris Johnson, poised to become the new prime minister.
Fox, a doctor, comes with solid right-wing credentials, combined with an unusual Tory background: He is a Catholic from the sort of Scottish town that produced generations of socialists. Then there is his reputation as a gregarious party host — exactly the quality of a natural Washington ambassador.
Before he married fellow doctor Jesme Baird in 2005, Fox had a reputation as a socialite. When he was linked to Imbruglia, Fox said he hoped the relationship would end “all sorts of smears” that he “must be a playboy or a wild man or gay”.
While the ambassadorial position would technically be a step down from running a government department and he has told friends he is hopeful of a cabinet job in the Johnson administration, Fox would be well placed to rebuild relations with Trump.
Fox backed Johnson’s rival Jeremy Hunt in the Conservative party leadership contest — as the leader of the majority party, the winner becomes prime minister — but Johnson will need to build bridges with his rival.
A DTI spokesman tried to play down speculation. “Dr. Fox has no intention of leaving the House of Commons,” he said.
Fox worked as a general practitioner before entering Parliament in 1992. His smooth debating style saw him rapidly promoted, and a decade later he was often spoken of as a future party leader.
He was also known for his Atlanticist views and in 1997 he founded the Atlantic Bridge charity to promote U.S.-U.K. relations. It forged close links with the Tea Party movement and brought together conservative thinkers from both sides of the Atlantic.
As a result, his political contacts include Trump confidants such as Rudy Giuliani and Jim Inhofe, the senator from Oklahoma who was on the U.S. advisory council of Atlantic Bridge, and John Bolton, Trump’s national security adviser, whom he met at a 2013 conference in Bahrain.
But the Atlantic Bridge was to prove his downfall in 2011 when it emerged that its chief executive had been attending many of Fox’s meetings when he was defense secretary. Adam Werritty, Fox’s best man at his 2005 wedding, styled himself as an adviser to the minister and handed out business cards to that effect, despite having no official government or Conservative Party role.
Fox was forced to resign from David Cameron’s cabinet and apologized for “allowing distinctions to be blurred” between professional responsibilities and personal loyalties.
Five years later he was back, handed the job of international trade minister by Theresa May, who had beaten him to the party leadership. His right-wing base and pro-Brexit credentials made him a useful ally for a prime minister who had voted Remain.
Those same features, as well as his Washington contacts, have seen him named as possible Washington ambassador. Luke Coffey, who was a special adviser to Fox before joining the Heritage Foundation, said he would make an impressive diplomat if he wanted the job.
“In particular he understands the importance of Congress in the formulation of policy and has great contacts on the Hill,” he said. “If he were to be asked and if he took on the position there’s no doubt he would be a very effective ambassador.”
In a recent BBC interview, Fox appeared to lay out the case for himself. “I’ve always thought that we should be using a wider range of people in some of our diplomatic posts,” he said, before using the example of senior members of parliament who had gone on to become successful ambassadors.
